For years, doctors have been recommending salt restriction, no matter what your health condition. However, recent studies, in which Polish scientists also participated, do not confirm the validity of such general recommendations.
The publication of the results of this study appeared in May in the journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), a reputable medical weekly, and sparked a flood of sensational media reports about the fall of another nutrition myth. At the same time, in the medical and scientific community, it has revived the age-old controversy about the harmfulness of excess salt in the diet.
Our work does not support the recommendation that everyone – both sick and healthy – reduce salt intake. This may bring unexpected effects and, paradoxically, lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and mortality due to them, told PAP the main author of the work, Dr. Katarzyna Stolarz-Skrzypek from the XNUMXst Department of Cardiology and Hypertension of the Collegium Medicum of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow. Its head, prof. Kalina Kawecka-Jaszcz, also co-author of the work, is an internationally known specialist in the field of arterial hypertension treatment.
The media continues to echo the discussion of research. In the weekly Polityka of June 8, there was sharp criticism of the sensational reports. The experts quoted in the article emphasized that the presence of hypertension – the main risk factor for heart attacks and strokes – is, among others, the effect of excessive salt consumption in civilized societies, and that the results of studies that challenge this thesis should be viewed with great caution.
The authors of the work at JAMA emphasize that it concerns only healthy people. The results of our study do not in any way change the recommendations for salt intake in patients with hypertension or cardiovascular diseases. Limiting salt consumption is very beneficial for these people, because it leads to a reduction in blood pressure – said Dr. Stolarz-Skrzypek in an interview with PAP.
Scientists from Krakow are one of the five (and the only one from Poland) teams participating in European research, coordinated by a world-renowned authority in the field of hypertension treatment – prof. Jan Staessen from the University of Leuven in Belgium.
The study included 3681 healthy people (average age 41) who had no cardiovascular disease at baseline, and 70% had normal blood pressure. Initially, their daily salt intake was assessed by their sodium excretion in urine for 24 hours. Then three groups were distinguished: with the lowest consumption – an average of 6 g of salt per day, i.e. within the limits recommended by the WHO; with an average salt consumption, i.e. 10 g per day, which corresponds to the average consumption in highly developed societies (e.g. in Western Europe) and with the highest salt supply – 15 g per day, which is equal to the average consumption in Poland.
In about 30 percent. The participants also analyzed changes in salt consumption and changes in blood pressure during a 6-year follow-up.
Observations of the health status of the entire group of respondents, lasting an average of 8 years, confirmed that salt consumption affects blood pressure – people who initially consumed it in greater amounts or increased its consumption during the study period had higher values of systolic blood pressure (i.e. higher). . But even so, this was not the same as a higher incidence of new hypertension diagnoses.
In addition, it did not translate, as could be expected, into an increased risk of hypertension, cardiovascular diseases or deaths due to them – noted Dr. Stolarz-Skrzypek. One in four people developed hypertension in each of the three groups.
Most surprisingly, mortality from cardiovascular events such as heart attacks and strokes increased as salt consumption decreased. There were 50 deaths (about 4%) in the group with the lowest consumption, 24 (almost 2%) – in the group with the intermediate consumption, and 10 (less than 1%) in the group with the highest consumption. According to the scientists’ calculations, people who consumed the least salt per day had 56 percent. higher risk of death compared to its greatest amateurs.
According to Dr. Stolarz-Skrzypek, these studies question the validity of the top-down recommendation for everyone to limit salt intake regardless of health status.
Joanna Morga (PAP)