Education to Decrease in Sodium Intake in University Students Evaluated With 24 Hour Urinary Sodium Excretion: Randomized Controlled Trial

According to reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015, the prevalence of hypertension in the world is 1.13 billion people, representing 1 in 4 men and 1 in 5 women (WHO, 2019). In the Americas, every year 1.6 million people die from cardiovascular disease and it has been reported that 20-40% of the adult population suffer hypertension, representing 250 million people affected.

High salt intake (NaCl) is considered an essential risk factor in the development and progression of hypertension.In addition, several studies indicate that sodium in the diet is directly associated with blood pressure.Deleterious effects of high sodium intake associated with endothelial damage have also been reported in normotensive individuals independent of high blood pressure , reduced endothelial function and microvascular reactivity due to oxidative stress.Likewise, a decrease in the nitric oxide of the endothelium has been described that precedes the development of atherosclerotic plaques, which is known through a mechanism where nitric oxide inhibits platelet aggregation, the adhesion of platelets to collagen fibers and other adhesive proteins, as well as the stimulation of adipocyte hypertrophy by increasing the enzymatic activity of leptin and lipogenic enzymes .With type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM2) and increased insulin resistance through hemodynamic changes in the kidneys by sustained sodium reabsorption.In addition, high salt intake has also been associated with kidney disease, osteoporosis, kidney stone formation and stomach cancer.Recently, as a potential modulator of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases through direct and indirect mechanisms of cellular immunity.Therefore, international organizations recommend decreasing sodium intake in the diet. The WHO recommends that sodium intake be 2000 mg/d (equivalent to 5g of salt) and potassium intake 3.5 g/d in adults, to prevent chronic diseases such as hypertension, risk of heart disease and stroke.

Methodology Study design: a randomized controlled, parallel-group, prospective trial was conducted.

Sample: n= 114, undergraduate students from the Autonomous University of Baja California.

For the sample size of the comparison of two repeated averages in two different groups of participants.Public-Public Software was used for its calculationGRANMO developed by the URLEC Consortium of the research groups on Cardiovascular Risk and Nutrition and on Epidemiology and Cardiovascular Genetics of the IMIM-Hospital del Mar Research Program on Inflammatory and Cardiovascular Processes.