Low Sodium Diets Cause Insulin Resistance

(Failed) #1

I found this article interesting.
Salt and Insulin: How a Low Sodium Diet Causes Diabetes

(Susan) #2

That is great since we encourage people to add more salt usually on Keto. Considering all the people on the forum that have had great results with their Diabetes on Keto this is very cool indeed =).

(Full Metal KETO AF) #3

Pretty good article Dee, however towards the end after saying salt is healthy they give a caution about too much and bring up the salt raising blood pressure half truth.

“ High blood pressure is a risk factor for heart disease. And there’s good evidence that reducing salt intake reduces blood pressure1. This may reduce the risk of heart disease. The question then becomes: do the benefits outweigh the risks?”

So the actual truth is that cutting salt to low levels will lower your blood pressure about 10 points. But when you drop that pressure your resting heart rate goes up to compensate for the lowered pressure. So at the lower pressure your heart works harder around the clock. This is harder on your heart than having your blood pressure higher. So you get that inverse effect. Along with the increased insulin resistance I will go with higher salt intake.

:cowboy_hat_face:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #4

There are studies showing that the reduction of salt intake produces a minimal effect on blood pressure for the vast majority of patients. The PURE study, out of McMaster University, calculated the risk curve associated with various levels of sodium intake, and found that the best (lowest) risk was between 4 and 6 grams of sodium daily. The curve is J-shaped for most people; i.e., the risk rises steeply as sodium intake declines below 4 g/day and rises, but not as steeply, for intakes above 6 g/day. For people with hypertension, however, they found the risk curve to be U-shaped; in other words the risk curve rises equally steeply below 4 g/day and above 6 g/day.

Apparently, the only people who need to worry about their salt intake are salt-sensitive hypertensives, who make up a small percentage of people with hypertension.

Four to six g/day of sodium (Na) translates to 10-15 g/day of table salt (NaCl).