Low dietary sodium intake may have adverse pleiotropic effects on cardiovascular health, including activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, increased serum lipids, and insulin resistance.
Does dietary sodium restriction improve cardiovascular health factors and outcomes, particularly in individuals with diabetes?
While dietary sodium restriction lowers blood pressure, it also triggers compensatory mechanisms like RAAS activation and lipid increases, highlighting the complexity of its cardiovascular impact and challenging universal strict restriction guidelines.
Guidelines have recommended significant reductions in dietary sodium intake to improve cardiovascular health. However, these dietary sodium intake recommendations have been questioned as emerging evidence has shown that there is a higher risk of cardiovascular disease with a low sodium diet, including in individuals with type 2 diabetes. This may be related to the other pleotropic effects of dietary sodium intake. Therefore, despite recent review of dietary sodium intake guidelines by multiple organizations, including the dietary guidelines for Americans, American Diabetes Association, and American Heart Association, concerns about the impact of the degree of sodium restriction on cardiovascular health continue to be raised. This literature review examines the effects of dietary sodium intake on factors contributing to cardiovascular health, including left ventricular hypertrophy, heart rate, albuminuria, rennin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activation, serum lipids, insulin sensitivity, sympathetic nervous system activation, endothelial function, and immune function. In the last part of this review, the association between dietary sodium intake and cardiovascular outcomes, especially in individuals with diabetes, is explored. Given the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in individuals with diabetes and the increasing incidence of diabetes worldwide, this review is important in summarizing the recent evidence regarding the effects of dietary sodium intake on cardiovascular health, especially in this population.
Kong et al. (Fri,) conducted a review in Cardiovascular disease. Dietary sodium intake was evaluated. Low dietary sodium intake may have adverse pleiotropic effects on cardiovascular health, including activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, increased serum lipids, and insulin resistance.
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