is salt restriction must in a diabetic nonhypertensive coronary patient?
a 54 yr old male patient whose bp is normally below normal.diabetic ,controled.lipids in normalrange.can he take normal qantity of salt in his diet or to be restricted moderatey or drastically?
muks,
Thanks for your question. Doctors usually ask their cardiac patients to follow a low salt diet, even if their blood pressure is normalized. Salt generally causes some degree of fluid retention which also represents a larger volume of circulating blood. This is usually handled by most people without a problem, but in patients with heart disease, this could pose an added strain or workload on the heart. We always try to reduce the workload.
As to how much salt restriction, I would recommend about a two gram (2000 milligrams) sodium diet. Sodium is one half of the salt molecule, with the other half being chloride. Sodium is the actual culprit, and is a major factor in fluid management within our bodies. One teaspoon of salt equals 2300 mg of sodium, so 2000 mg would be about three quarters of a teaspoon. When purchasing packaged foods, check the nutritional information on the label which lists the salt content as sodium in milligrams.
I hope this has been helpful.
Martin Cane, M.D.
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