Sodium restriction and insulin resistance: A review of 23 clinical trials

Abstract

Background: Many clinicians recommend low-salt diets for lowering blood pressure but there may be unintended consequences such as worsening insulin resistance.

Aim: This paper aimed to find human clinical studies looking at low-salt diets on markers of glucose and insulin.

Methods: We reviewed PubMed using the search terms ‘sodium’, ‘insulin’ and ‘insulin resistance’ and found 23 human clinical studies testing low-salt diets showing negative harms on insulin or glucose.

Results: Twenty-three human clinical trials have shown that low-salt diets lead to systemic or vascular insulin resistance, glucose intolerance, elevated fasting insulin and/or elevations in glucose and/or insulin levels after an oral glucose tolerance test.

Conclusion: We discovered 23 human clinical studies showing that low-salt diets worsen markers of insulin and glucose. Caution is advised when recommending salt restriction for blood pressure control as this may lead to worsening insulin resistance.

Contribution: This review has revealed that low salt diets can induce insulin resistance.