A cutting sodium intake to less than 2.3 grams per day does not improve health and may even increase death risk for people with heart failure, warns Dr. Ewa Jidrzejczyk-Patej from Zabrze.
Heart failure means that the heart is unable to pump blood around the body properly. It usually happens because the heart has become too weak or stiff.
The specialist admits that sodium is needed in our daily diet. In this case, both excess and deficiency of it can be dangerous to our health.
“However, in the group of patients with heart failure, any disturbances in the level of elements in the blood may have significantly more dangerous consequences for health and prognosis than for healthy people.”,
she noted. (PAP)
Keep common sense
Therefore, you should reduce salt in your diet but avoid being too obsessed with eliminating it in every dish and product. It can be as harmful as adding more salt to your meals.
The specialist cites a meta-analysis of nine randomized clinical trials. It showed that for people with heart failure, limiting dietary sodium intake to less than 2.3 grams per day did not provide additional health benefits. Moreover, it could increase the risk of death.
“It is important to note that this study involved patients with heart failure. This is a different group of patients than hypertensive patients, who are usually subject to similar studies and analyzes. For them, lowering salt intake leads to a significant reduction in blood pressure and has a beneficial effect on health.” ,
explains the specialist.
Use salt but avoid junky food
So how to compose a daily diet? The specialist recommends not to add salt to dishes and avoid highly processed food and ready-made products. Fast food is a real sodium bomb. Also, adding salt to healthy dishes is not beneficial for health – both for people from the general population and for patients with heart failure. Sodium is present in food products and no additional salting is needed. (PAP)