Study Questions Sodium Reduction in Diabetics

VICTORIA, Australia—A new study published in the journal Diabetes Care questions whether new Dietary Guidelines that recommend Americans restrict sodium intake to 1.5 grams a day should be followed by diabetics.

Researchers at the University of Melbourne studied the daily amount of sodium present in the urine of 638 type 2 diabetics who participated in a cohort study at a diabetes clinic.

The average amount of sodium excretion was 4.2 grams per day. Over the 10-year study, 175 patients died, mostly due to heart disease. The researchers noted that for every extra 2.3 grams of sodium in their urine, the risk of dying during the study dropped by 28 percent.

Sources:

Diabetes Care: Dietary Salt Intake and Mortality in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes