#471: Salt & Bone Health – Is There Cause For Concern?

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Introduction

Does sodium lead to calcium losses? Do high-salt diets harm bone health? At what thresholds could there be an impact? Does any of this change our recommendations around salt/sodium intake?

Thanks to Sigma Nutrition Premium subscriber Kate Wall for submitting a question in the member’s area that inspired this episode.

Kate asks: “Salt can impact calcium excretion in the urine and it is said that a high salt diet can increase risk of osteoporosis as it draws calcium from the bone and excretes it. How much of an impact does dietary salt intake actually have on bone health and how high would salt intake have to be for this to be a concern? Obviously high salt intakes are not something to aim for in general, but just wondered if this was a mechanism that could remove meaningful amounts of calcium in a way that I should be advising around this in those that we work with as nutritional professionals. Thanks!”

So in this episode, Danny and Alan look at some of the evidence in this area to see if there are impacts that have pragmatic implications for nutrition and medical professionals, as well as health-conscious people.

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Hosts

• Danny Lennon
• Alan Flanagan, PhD

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Overview

• Sodium and bone health: What are the mechanisms of potential harm?
• Is there evidence of high sodium intakes harm bone health?
• If so, is there a dose-response? Threshold?
• How does this compare to typical intakes?
• What factors might impact risk?
• Practically what does this mean for:
  • a) population guideline intakes?
  • b) individual advice that nutrition professionals should give?

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Related Resources

• Receive Danny’s Sigma Synopsis emails
• Related episodes:
  • 375: Salt, Sodium & Health
  • 457: Austin Robinson, PhD – Salt Sensitive vs Salt Resistant, Impacts of Sodium on Health, & Racial Differences in Risk
• Studies referenced:
  • Teucher et al., J Bone Miner Res. 2008 Sep;23(9):1477-85.
  • Carbone et al., J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2016 Apr;101(4):1414-21.
  • Sellmeyer et al., J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2002 May;87(5):2008-12
  • Kim et al., Endocrine. 2015 Aug;49(3):791-9

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Detailed Study Notes

#471 Salt & Bone Health – Study NotesDownload

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Transcript

#471 Salt and Bone Health – TranscriptDownload

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