A severe reduction in sodium consumption may not be as healthy as it seems, according to a new study.
Researchers at McMaster University’s Population Health Institute studied 130,000 people from 49 different countries, half with high blood pressure, and half without.
They discovered high sodium intake for people with normal blood pressure was not linked to cardiac events.
Conversely, low sodium diets for both groups were linked to heart events.
The study’s authors suggest only those people with both high blood pressure, and a high sodium diet should reduce their sodium intake.
They claim drastic sodium reduction for healthy people will only slightly improve blood pressure while significantly increasing their risk of heart attacks or stroke.
The researchers were careful to emphasize this study is not conclusive.
They suggested large and long term randomized control trials should be done before making decisions affecting public policy.
Canadian guidelines currently recommend adults consume less than 2,300 mg of sodium per day.
Most Canadians consume much more than that, between 3,400 – 4,000 mg, on average.
The full study is HERE
