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1.
Sodium Intake as a Cardiovascular Risk Factor: A Narrative Review.
Jaques, DA, Wuerzner, G, Ponte, B
Nutrients. 2021;(9)
Abstract
While sodium is essential for human homeostasis, current salt consumption far exceeds physiological needs. Strong evidence suggests a direct causal relationship between sodium intake and blood pressure (BP) and a modest reduction in salt consumption is associated with a meaningful reduction in BP in hypertensive as well as normotensive individuals. Moreover, while long-term randomized controlled trials are still lacking, it is reasonable to assume a direct relationship between sodium intake and cardiovascular outcomes. However, a consensus has yet to be reached on the effectiveness, safety and feasibility of sodium intake reduction on an individual level. Beyond indirect BP-mediated effects, detrimental consequences of high sodium intake are manifold and pathways involving vascular damage, oxidative stress, hormonal alterations, the immune system and the gut microbiome have been described. Globally, while individual response to salt intake is variable, sodium should be perceived as a cardiovascular risk factor when consumed in excess. Reduction of sodium intake on a population level thus presents a potential strategy to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease worldwide. In this review, we provide an update on the consequences of salt intake on human health, focusing on BP and cardiovascular outcomes as well as underlying pathophysiological hypotheses.
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2.
Core Strategies to Increase the Uptake and Use of Potassium-Enriched Low-Sodium Salt.
Ajenikoko, A, Ide, N, Shivashankar, R, Ge, Z, Marklund, M, Anderson, C, Atun, A, Thomson, A, Henry, ME, Cobb, LK
Nutrients. 2021;(9)
Abstract
Excess sodium consumption and insufficient potassium intake contribute to high blood pressure and thus increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. In low-sodium salt, a portion of the sodium in salt (the amount varies, typically ranging from 10 to 50%) is replaced with minerals such as potassium chloride. Low-sodium salt may be an effective, scalable, and sustainable approach to reduce sodium and therefore reduce blood pressure and cardiovascular disease at the population level. Low-sodium salt programs have not been widely scaled up, although they have the potential to both reduce dietary sodium intake and increase dietary potassium intake. This article proposes a framework for a successful scale-up of low-sodium salt use in the home through four core strategies: availability, awareness and promotion, affordability, and advocacy. This framework identifies challenges and potential solutions within the core strategies to begin to understand the pathway to successful program implementation and evaluation of low-sodium salt use.
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3.
Nutrition and the Covid-19 pandemic: Three factors with high impact on community health.
Iaccarino Idelson, P, Rendina, D, Strazzullo, P
Nutrition, metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases : NMCD. 2021;(3):756-761
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Abstract
AIMS: In the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, multiple suggestions have been delivered through websites and social media referring to natural substances and various kinds of supplements with thaumaturgical properties in preventing and/or fighting the coronavirus infection. Indeed, there is no clinical trial evidence that a dietary or pharmacological supplementation of any particular substance will increase the effectiveness of the immune defences. There are however three nutritional issues that deserve special attention under the present circumstances, namely vitamin D deficiency, excess salt intake and inappropriate alcohol consumption. Here is a short review of the current knowledge about the possible role of these factors in the immunity defence system and their potential impact on the modulation of the immune response to SARS-COV2 infection. DATA SYNTHESIS For all of these factors there is convincing evidence of an impact on the immune defence structure and function. In the absence of RCT demonstration that increased ingestion of any given substance may confer protection against the new enemy, special attention to correction of these three nutritional criticisms is certainly warranted at the time of COVID pandemic. CONCLUSIONS We propose that the inappropriate intake of salt and alcohol and the risk of inadequate vitamin D status should be object of screening, in particular in subjects at high mortality risk from SARS-COV 2 infection, such as institutionalised elderly subjects and all those affected by predisposing conditions.
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The Dietary Approach to the Treatment of the Rare Genetic Tubulopathies Gitelman's and Bartter's Syndromes.
Francini, F, Gobbi, L, Ravarotto, V, Toniazzo, S, Nalesso, F, Spinella, P, Calò, LA
Nutrients. 2021;(9)
Abstract
Gitelman's (GS) and Bartter's (BS) syndromes are rare, inherited autosomal recessive tubulopathies characterized by hypokalemia, metabolic alkalosis, renal sodium, chloride, and potassium and magnesium-wasting. While the treatment based on potassium, sodium, chloride, and magnesium supplementation in addition to other pharmacologic options are widely established, recommendations about the dietary approach to GS and BS still remain generic. In this review we focus on the dietary strategies to increase sodium, potassium, and magnesium intake in GS and BS patients. Potassium and magnesium-rich foods and supplements are considered together with those that may reduce through different mechanisms the potassium and magnesium plasma level. Magnesium supplementation is often poorly tolerated, causing abdominal pain and diarrhea in most patients. New formulations using liposome and, in particular, sucrosomial technology have been recently proposed for magnesium supplementation in order to increase magnesium supplement tolerability and intestinal absorption. The dietary approach to GS and BS may be very important in the therapeutic approach to these syndromes. Due to the relevance of the dietary approach to these syndromes, a nutritional counseling should always be recommended and the nutritionist should join nephrologists in the follow-up of GS and BS patient care.
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Achieving Dietary Sodium Recommendations and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Prevention through Culinary Medicine Education.
Razavi, AC, Dyer, A, Jones, M, Sapin, A, Caraballo, G, Nace, H, Dotson, K, Razavi, MA, Harlan, TS
Nutrients. 2020;(12)
Abstract
Sodium-reduction initiatives have been a cornerstone of preventing hypertension and broader atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) since the early 1970s. For nearly 50 years, public health and clinical guidelines have concentrated on consumer education, behavioral change, and, to a lesser extent, food policy to help reduce sodium intake among Americans. While these efforts undoubtedly helped improve awareness, average sodium consumption remains at approximately 4200 mg/day in men and 3000 mg/day in women, well above the United States Dietary Guidelines of 2300 mg/day. Culinary medicine is an emerging discipline in clinical and public-health education that provides healthcare professionals and community members with food-based knowledge and skills. With the hands-on teaching of kitchen education to individuals, culinary medicine provides eaters with tangible strategies for reducing sodium through home cooking. Here, we review opportunities for culinary medicine to help improve both individual- and population-level sodium-reduction outcomes through five main areas: increasing adherence to a plant-forward dietary pattern, food literacy, the enhancement of complementary flavors, disease-specific teaching-kitchen modules, and the delivery of culturally specific nutrition education. Through this process, we hope to further underline the value of formal, hands-on teaching-kitchen education among healthcare professionals and community members for ASCVD prevention.
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Estimation of Sodium and Potassium Intake: Current Limitations and Future Perspectives.
Ginos, BNR, Engberink, RHGO
Nutrients. 2020;(11)
Abstract
Globally, average dietary sodium intake is double the recommended amount, whereas potassium is often consumed in suboptimal amounts. High sodium diets are associated with increased cardiovascular and renal disease risk, while potassium may have protective properties. Consequently, patients at risk of cardiovascular and renal disease are urged to follow these recommendations, but dietary adherence is often low due to high sodium and low potassium content in processed foods. Adequate monitoring of intake is essential to guide dietary advice in clinical practice and can be used to investigate the relationship between intake and health outcomes. Daily sodium and potassium intake is often estimated with 24-h sodium and potassium excretion, but long-term balance studies demonstrate that this method lacks accuracy on an individual level. Dietary assessment tools and spot urine collections also exhibit poor performance when estimating individual sodium and potassium intake. Collection of multiple consecutive 24-h urines increases accuracy, but also patient burden. In this narrative review, we discuss current approaches to estimating dietary sodium and potassium intake. Additionally, we explore alternative methods that may improve test accuracy without increasing burden.
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High-Salt Diet Gets Involved in Gastrointestinal Diseases through the Reshaping of Gastroenterological Milieu.
Li, J, Sun, F, Guo, Y, Fan, H
Digestion. 2019;(4):267-274
Abstract
BACKGROUND Gastrointestinal (GI) diseases are known to be largely influenced by one's lifestyle and dietary uptake. A high-salt diet (HSD) is well recognized as a risk factor for cardiovascular complications, hypertension, and metabolic syndromes. However, the relationship between an HSD and the GI system, which is the compartment that comes in direct contact with exogenous stimulants, has not been fully explored. AIMS We seek to better understand the complexity of the pathogenic effects of an HSD in the context of GI disorders. METHODS By searching the PubMed and Web of science, the review of literature was performed using keywords: high-salt and GI, high-salt and immunity, salt and microbiota, salt and hormone. RESULTS In this review, we concluded that high-salt intake potentially perturbs the local immune homeostasis, alters the gut microbiota composition and function, and affects the endocrine hormone profiling in the GI system. CONCLUSION HSD might get involved in GI diseases through the reshaping of gastroenterological milieu, which could help to better understand the complexity of the pathogenic effects of an HSD in the context of GI disorders.
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Not Salt But Sugar As Aetiological In Osteoporosis: A Review.
DiNicolantonio, JJ, Mehta, V, Zaman, SB, O'Keefe, JH
Missouri medicine. 2018;(3):247-252
Abstract
Salt has notoriously been blamed for causing an increase in the urinary excretion of calcium, and thus is a considered a risk factor for osteoporosis. However, the increase in the urinary excretion of calcium with higher sodium intakes can be offset by the increased intestinal absorption of dietary calcium. Thus, the overall calcium balance does not appear to be reduced with a higher sodium intake. However, the other ubiquitous white crystal, sugar, may lead to osteoporosis by increasing inflammation, hyperinsulinemia, increased renal acid load, reduced calcium intake, and increased urinary calcium excretion. Sugar, not salt, is the more likely white crystal to be a risk factor for osteoporosis when overconsumed.
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Impact of quality of research on patient outcomes in the Institute of Medicine 2013 report on dietary sodium.
Lucko, A, Doktorchik, CT, Campbell, NR
Journal of clinical hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.). 2018;(2):345-350
Abstract
The 2013 Institute of Medicine report entitled "Sodium Intake in Populations: Assessment of Evidence" found inconsistent evidence of health benefit with dietary sodium intake <2300 mg/d. Different studies reported benefit and harm of population dietary intake <2300 mg/d. The Institute of Medicine committee, however, did not assess whether the methodology used in each of the studies was appropriate to examine dietary sodium and health outcomes. This review investigates the association of methodological rigor and outcomes of studies in the Institute of Medicine report. For the 13 studies that met all methodological criteria, nine found a detrimental impact of high sodium consumption on health, one found a health benefit, and in three the effect was unclear (P = .068). For the 22 studies that failed to meet all criteria, 11 showed a detrimental impact, four a health benefit, and seven had unclear effects from increasing dietary sodium (P = .42).
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Urine 24-Hour Sodium Excretion Decreased between 1953 and 2014 in Japan, but Estimated Intake Still Exceeds the WHO Recommendation.
Uechi, K, Sugimoto, M, Kobayashi, S, Sasaki, S
The Journal of nutrition. 2017;(3):390-397
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Abstract
Background: Accurate monitoring of sodium intake is necessary for evaluating strategies used to reduce sodium intake. However, no repeat survey has been conducted in representative populations in Japan to examine trends in sodium intake with the use of 24-h urinary sodium excretion, a standard evaluation method for sodium intake monitoring.Objective: The objective of this study was to examine potential trends in sodium intake by examining previous reports of 24-h urinary sodium excretion in healthy Japanese adult populations.Methods: We systematically searched for reports of 24-h urinary sodium excretion in healthy Japanese adult populations (mean age range: 18-69 y). We searched PubMed and Web of Science for English-language articles and hand-searched 7 Japanese scientific journals for Japanese-language articles. Trends in urinary sodium excretion were examined with the use of weighted linear regression and random-effects meta-regression analyses, with adjustment or stratification to address study characteristics (population mean age, percentage of men, and sample size) and study assessment for completeness of urine collection.Results: We identified 68 reports of urinary sodium excretion from 53 articles published from 1953 through 2014 that showed high rates of urinary sodium excretion in healthy Japanese adult populations (weighted mean: 4900 mg/d). The rate of urinary sodium excretion significantly decreased between 1953 and 2014, by 4350 mg/d (P < 0.001); however, the rate of reduction in urinary sodium excretion was variable and decreased with time (P-linear trend <0.001 and P-quadratic trend <0.001). In the random-effects meta-regression analysis of studies that assessed completeness of urine collection with creatinine excretion, no significant relation between urinary sodium excretion and year was observed from 1978 to 2014 (β = -16, P = 0.40).Conclusion: Despite a decrease in urinary sodium excretion in healthy Japanese adult populations between 1953 and 2014, sodium intake still exceeds the WHO recommendation for adults. This review was registered at PROSPERO as CRD42016035452.