Limiting Salt Intake Benefits Diabetes Patients

LONDONLimiting daily intake of sodium benefits diabetes patients by lowering blood pressure and other health outcomes; however, a new Cochrane Database Review suggests patients should focus less on the salt shaker and more on what they buy in the supermarket and at chain restaurants.

Authors evaluated 13 studies with 254 adults who had either type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The participants average salt intake was restricted by 11.9 grams a day for those with type 1 diabetes and by 7.3 grams a day for those with type 2. The reviewers wrote that reducing salt intake by 8.5 grams a day could lower patients blood pressure by 7/3 mmHg. This was true for patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes. The reviewers noted that this reduction in blood pressure is similar to that found from taking blood pressure medication.

We were surprised to find so few studies of modest, practical salt reduction in diabetes where patients are at high cardiovascular risk and stand much to gain from interventions that reduce blood pressure," said lead reviewer Rebecca Suckling. However, despite this, there was a consistent reduction in blood pressure when salt intake was reduced."

Patients with diabetes need to be extra cautious to maintain their blood pressure at an acceptable range of less than 130/80 mmHg. However, in the 2003-2004 period, 75 percent of adults with diabetes had blood pressure greater than or equal to 130/80 mmHg or used prescription hypertension medications, according to the American Diabetes Association (ADA).

High salt intake is a major cause for increased blood pressure and, in those with diabetes, elevated blood pressure can lead to more serious health problems, including stroke, heart attack and diabetic kidney disease.