Reducing Dietary Sodium
The Case for Caution
- Author Affiliations: Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Bronx, New York.
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Authoritative recommendations, sometimes sanctioned by government, routinely call for reduced dietary sodium. However, when the strength of evidence is made explicit, it is generally acknowledged to be opinion or common “practice.”1 Advocates contend that the recommendation is justified because sodium restriction has been convincingly proven to lower blood pressure and that this will surely prevent stroke and myocardial infarction. Skeptics argue that modification of this single surrogate end point does not guarantee a health benefit as measured by morbidity or mortality. Instead, they note that salt restriction capable of reducing blood pressure also unfavorably affects other cardiovascular disease surrogates.
Diet is a complicated factor involving a multitude of interrelating nutrients. Genetic, behavioral, and environmental factors determine wide interindividual variation in sodium intake compatible with good health. Thus, skeptics of the benefits of limiting dietary sodium argue that a recommendation to reduce sodium intake should be based on solid direct …
