Health Effects Of A Low Sodium Diet

What are the health effects of a low sodium diet? Abstract conclusions:

AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS:

Sodium reduction from an average high usual sodium intake level (201 mmol/day) to an average level of 66 mmol/day, which is below the recommended upper level of 100 mmol/day (5.8 g salt), resulted in a decrease in SBP/DBP of 1/0 mmHg in white participants with normotension and a decrease in SBP/DBP of 5.5/2.9 mmHg in white participants with hypertension. A few studies showed that these effects in black and Asian populations were greater. The effects on hormones and lipids were similar in people with normotension and hypertension. Renin increased 1.60 ng/mL/hour (55%); aldosterone increased 97.81 pg/mL (127%); adrenalin increased 7.55 pg/mL (14%); noradrenalin increased 63.56 pg/mL: (27%); cholesterol increased 5.59 mg/dL (2.9%); triglyceride increased 7.04 mg/dL (6.3%).

Low sodium helps decrease blood pressure but for some reason cholesterol and triglycerides were increased. More study is required.

Microbiota, Diet, And Blood Pressure

Response to diet – for example, for blood pressure – is influenced by the microbiota, just as s much else is.  Abstract:

BACKGROUND:

Interindividual variation in the response to diet is common, but the underlying mechanism for such variation is unclear.

OBJECTIVE:

The objective of this study was to use a metabolic profiling approach to identify a panel of urinary metabolites representing individuals demonstrating typical (homogeneous) metabolic responses to healthy diets, and subsequently to define the association of these metabolites with improvement of risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs).

DESIGN:

24-h urine samples from 158 participants with pre-hypertension and stage 1 hypertension, collected at baseline and following the consumption of a carbohydrate-rich, a protein-rich, and a monounsaturated fat-rich healthy diet (6 wk/diet) in a randomized, crossover study, were analyzed by proton (1H) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Urinary metabolite profiles were interrogated to identify typical and variable responses to each diet. We quantified the differences in absolute excretion of metabolites, distinguishing between dietary comparisons within the typical response groups, and established their associations with CVD risk factors using linear regression.

RESULTS:

Globally all 3 diets induced a similar pattern of change in the urinary metabolic profiles for the majority of participants (60.1%). Diet-dependent metabolic variation was not significantly associated with total cholesterol or low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol concentrations. However, blood pressure (BP) was found to be significantly associated with 6 urinary metabolites reflecting dietary intake [proline-betaine (inverse), carnitine (direct)], gut microbial co-metabolites [hippurate (direct), 4-cresyl sulfate (inverse), phenylacetylglutamine (inverse)], and tryptophan metabolism [N-methyl-2-pyridone-5-carboxamide (inverse)]. A dampened clinical response was observed in some individuals with variable metabolic responses, which could be attributed to nonadherence to diet (≤25.3%), variation in gut microbiome activity (7.6%), or a combination of both (7.0%).

CONCLUSIONS:

These data indicate interindividual variations in BP in response to dietary change and highlight the potential influence of the gut microbiome in mediating this relation. This approach provides a framework for stratification of individuals undergoing dietary management. The original OmniHeart intervention study and the metabolomics study were registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00051350 and NCT03369535, respectively

Newstart Lifestyle?

The Newstart Lifestyle program claims the ability to lower blood pressure as effectively as medication.  In general, I approve of such approaches’ it is good if physicians and patients use medication as a last resort instead of a first-line treatment.  I quibble with some details; for example, I doubt that a strictly vegan diet is really necessary, not desirable for optimal health.  As regards the “spiritual activities” at least they are deemed “optional” – if that was required I would more strongly object.  In my case I lowered blood pressure by: losing abdominal fat (“spare tire”), reducing saturated fat and excess sugar, eating more fruit, and getting more aerobic exercise mostly in the form of walking with some occasional brief jumping rope thrown in several days per week.

June 11 (UPI) -- By modifying their lifestyle, including diet and exercise, people can lower their blood pressure just as effectively as with medication, according to a study.

Researchers studied the effects of adapting the Newstart Lifestyle program, which includes a vegan diet, daily outside walks, substantial quantities of water, adequate daily sleep and optional spiritual activities. The findings will be presented Monday at the American Society for Nutrition's annual meeting, Nutrition 2018, in Boston.

The idea of altering diet as part of treatment for high blood pressure is not a new one -- most people with hypertension, among other cardiovascular conditions, are advised to change their diet, and often also to get some exercise.

A study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology in 2017 also found that a low-salt and heart-healthy diet may be just as effective as medication. The diet for that study, called the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH, has been endorsed by the American Heart Association.

The latest research involved the Newstart program of lifestyle changes.

"The Newstart Lifestyle program works quickly, is inexpensive and uses a palatable diet that allows for moderate amounts of salt and healthy fats from nuts, olives, avocado and certain vegetable oils," M. Alfredo Mejia, an associate professor at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich., said in a press release.

On its website, Newstart touts that half of all hypertensives are off medication and return to normal blood pressure. Also, 50 percent of type 2 diabetics who adopt the system are off insulin and medications in as little as 18 days.

The website includes testimonials from people getting off medication.

The researchers' study confirmed the results. They found half of people in the study achieved normal blood pressure --- the recommended 120 mmHg -- within two weeks and avoided the side effects and costs of blood pressure medications, despite lowering their blood pressure on average 14 percent.

Researchers evaluated data from 117 people with high blood pressure who had participated in the Newstart Lifestyle program at the Weimer Institute in California for 16 days in 2014. Their average age was 66.5 years old with a body mass index of 31.6 and blood pressure of 138 mmHg.

Blood pressure was lower in people who have several medical conditions but are healthy otherwise -- women and people with diabetes, who are obese or have high cholesterol levels.

The researchers plan to expand studies of the program to more people, and over a longer time period. They also want to see if the diet improves other health problems, including diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity.

The Mayo Clinic offers a set of lifestyle changes that can lower blood pressure and reduce risk of heart disease which are reminiscent to those noted in the new study, as well as in previous research on high blood pressure and diet.

Changes spotlighted by researchers at Mayo include regular exercise, healthy diet, limiting alcohol, smoking cessation, reduces caffeine and sodium and lower stress.

"If you successfully control your blood pressure with a healthy lifestyle, you might avoid, delay or reduce the need for medication," the organization has included in its recommendations.

More Benefits Of DASH

The DASH diet can reduce depression along with all of its other health benefits.

The popular Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet was created to lower blood pressure, but new research says it can also reduce the risk of depression later in life.

A study, to be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 70th Annual Meeting in April, shows that the popular diet -- rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, fat-free or low-fat dairy products and very few foods that are high in saturated fats and sugar -- does more than what has been shown in multiple studies: Lowering blood pressure, bad cholesterol (LDL) and body weight.

Keep on eating those Big Macs though!

In all seriousness, people have a choice between healthy and unhealthy eating, and this choice should be reflected in health insurance premiums.

Salt, Microbiota, and High Blood Pressure

A high salt diet can alter gut microbiota, which in turn induces certain immune cells that can contribute to autoimmunity leading to, among other problems, high blood pressure.  This finding provides more evidence foe the link between diet, gut microbiota, and altered human health, and also demonstrates a novel mechanism whereby a high salt diet contributed to hypertension.  Abstract:

A Western lifestyle with high salt consumption can lead to hypertension and cardiovascular disease. High salt may additionally drive autoimmunity by inducing T helper 17 (TH17) cells, which can also contribute to hypertension. Induction of TH17 cells depends on gut microbiota; however, the effect of salt on the gut microbiome is unknown. Here we show that high salt intake affects the gut microbiome in mice, particularly by depleting Lactobacillus murinus. Consequently, treatment of mice with L. murinus prevented salt-induced aggravation of actively induced experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and salt-sensitive hypertension by modulating TH17 cells. In line with these findings, a moderate high-salt challenge in a pilot study in humans reduced intestinal survival of Lactobacillus spp., increased TH17 cells and increased blood pressure. Our results connect high salt intake to the gut-immune axis and highlight the gut microbiome as a potential therapeutic target to counteract salt-sensitive conditions.

The New Blood Pressure Guidelines

The blood pressure guidelines for “high blood pressure” have been lowered once again. As America get fatter and fatter, it’s interesting that the cutoffs for things like blood pressure and cholesterol levels get lower and lower, and drug sales go higher and higher.

New guidelines lower the threshold for high blood pressure, adding 30 million Americans to those who have the condition, which now plagues nearly half of U.S. adults.

High pressure, which for decades has been a top reading of at least 140 or a bottom one of 90, drops to 130 over 80 in advice announced Monday by a dozen medical groups.

I’m skeptical of these new blood pressure standards.  If the ultimate outcome – regardless of what people are saying now – is really going to be an emphasis on losing weight, exercise, and good diets, then fine.  But I believe that the real ultimate outcome is going to be putting half of America, or more, on blood pressure medication, just like we’ll have half on statins, and a big percentage on attention deficit disorder medication, all leading to fat profits for pharmaceutical companies.

So, yes, get your blood pressure to healthy levels. But the specter of folks with 30+ BMIs taking blood pressure medications and statins seems to be self-defeating.

Fructose - Your Foe

We all know that sugar is bad for us. This is why the World Health Organization recommends us to limit our sugar (sucrose) intake to six teaspoons a day. But did you know that fructose, one of the individual types of sugar, is toxic for you? You may not be aware that you consume fructose every day. It is present in regular sugar “sucrose” (composed by glucose and fructose at a ratio of 1:1); however, its main source in the diet is the omnipresent high fructose corn syrup. This “syrup” is added to almost everything: from soft drinks, candy, bread, to tomato soup and ketchup. It is even in some potato and macaroni salads in the neighborhood deli. The fruit juices also contain considerable levels of fructose.
 
Whereas the sugar glucose is used as an energy source by every single cell in the body, fructose is not. Be aware, however, that excess of glucose intake could be converted into fructose in the body. Unlike glucose, fructose can be utilized only by liver cells, where fructose processing results in increased levels of the toxic uric acid and fat. Thus, excess of fructose intake from the diet results in excess fat in the liver (and “fatty liver” disease) and excess fat circulating in the blood. The increased fat in the blood accumulates in the body, and leads to obesity, cardiovascular (heart) diseases, and type 2 diabetes. In fact, fructose is the main culprit for metabolic syndrome, the condition in which high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist, and high cholesterol levels co-occur.


Actionable

• Read the ingredients of each food product in your refrigerator and pantry. If “high fructose corn syrup” is one of the ingredients, discard the product. Stop buying such products.

• Stop drinking soft drinks and fruit juices. Instead, eat fruit and drink water.

• Do not allow your children to drink anything else but water and plain milk.

• Laugh with this Coca Cola video. Coca Cola is one of the companies that have drowned us in drinks with high fructose corn syrup and sugar.

• Next time you want to eat out, think twice: do you know what is in your meal? The only way to be sure is to cook it yourself. Learn how to cook with these affordable recipes from the free Good and Cheap cookbook.

• If you do eat out and you are served in a plate larger than 9 inches in diameter, chances are that there is too much food. Eat only half of the meal and take the other half home.