Emory Study: Salt Intake May Not Affect Heart Health

The findings of a ten-year health study may have some good news for all the bacon-lovers out there.

In a recent health study, researchers at the Emory University School of Medicine reported that salt intake did not increase risk for cardiovascular disease or heart failure among older adults without prior cardiovascular complications.

Published on JAMA Internal Medicine, the study sampled the cardiovascular health and dietary sodium intake of 2,642 adults between the ages of 71 to 80 who, over the course of ten years, self-reported their salt intake through a food frequency questionnaire, the abstract reveals.

According to the report, 881 participants had died, 572 developed cardiovascular diseases and 398 suffered instances of heart failure by the end of the decade-long study -- results that suggest sodium has a lesser impact on mortality and cardiovascular distress than health professionals previously thought.

“There is ongoing debate on how low should we go when it comes to dietary sodium restriction recommendations and not much data on restriction among older adults, especially those with their blood pressure on target,” said Dr. Andreas P. Kalogeropoulos, the study’s principal author and assistant professor of cardiology at the Emory University School of Medicine, in an Emory news release.

Researchers analyzed participants’ salt intake at three levels: most of the study’s participants reported sodium intake at over 2300 mg per day, while 29.5 percent consumed between 1500 to 2300 mg daily and only 11 percent stuck to under 1500 mg per day.

Kalogeropoulos and his team found that the ten-year mortality and health data revealed little difference between these three levels of sodium intake. The study showed that the mortality rate was “nonsignificantly lower in the group receiving 1500 to 2300 mg/d (30.7%) than in the group receiving less than 1500 mg/d (33.8%) and the group receiving greater than 2300 mg/d (35.2%),” according to the abstract.

The Emory researchers urge readers -- particularly those who already suffer from cardiovascular disease or have experienced heart failure -- not to interpret these findings as a free-pass to drastically consume more sodium.

“Our data emphasize the need for stronger evidence, preferably from rigorous controlled trials testing additional thresholds for sodium intake in older adults,” Kalogeropoulos explained.

Dietary guidelines for salt intake from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend daily consumption lower than 2,300 mg -- equivalent to 6 grams or a teaspoon of salt -- for healthy individuals and lower than 1,500 mg per day -- 3.75 grams or ¾ teaspoon -- for individuals at high risk of cardiovascular complications. According to the release, Kalogeropoulos and his team still believe this to be the most effective recommendation until they’re able to conduct more specialized research.

What does all this mean for individuals that could develop, but have not yet experienced, cardiovascular issues? Take the results of this study with a grain of salt -- approximately 4 to 5 grams, that is.

Patch file photo

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