Why eating less salt might make heart patients sicker
Self-Care and All-Cause Mortality in Patients With Chronic Heart Failure.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Low self-reported sodium intake was independently associated with a 47% higher risk of all-cause mortality.
Medical guidelines for decades have recommended sodium restriction for heart failure patients to reduce fluid buildup and strain on the heart. This study flips that assumption on its head.
Practical Takeaways
If you have heart failure, don’t panic if you’ve been eating low-salt—talk to your doctor about whether your diet reflects true intake or possible underlying decline.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Low self-reported sodium intake was independently associated with a 47% higher risk of all-cause mortality.
Medical guidelines for decades have recommended sodium restriction for heart failure patients to reduce fluid buildup and strain on the heart. This study flips that assumption on its head.
Practical Takeaways
If you have heart failure, don’t panic if you’ve been eating low-salt—talk to your doctor about whether your diet reflects true intake or possible underlying decline.
Publication
Journal
JACC. Heart failure
Year
2016
Authors
Dionne Kessing, J. Denollet, J. Widdershoven, N. Kupper
Related Content
Claims (3)
People who eat less than 2,300 mg of salt per day for a long time are 25% less likely to die from any cause than people who eat more than 3,600 mg of salt per day.
For people with long-term heart failure, how well they take care of themselves at home doesn’t seem to make a difference in whether they live longer or not.
People with heart failure who say they eat very little salt actually have a higher chance of dying sooner — even after accounting for how sick they are or their age and income — which makes scientists wonder if people are just bad at remembering or reporting what they eat.