If a person’s circadian rhythm is broken, even a low-salt diet may increase resting blood pressure and the risk of vascular disease. There are many factors that can alter or change a person’s circadian rhythm, including disrupted sleep, shift work, aging, and disease. A circadian dysfunction can contribute to high blood pressure, and although a low sodium diet is advised to help lower blood pressure, a circadian dysfunction can still lead to high blood pressure – even with proper diet in place.

Dr. Daniel Rudic, vascular biologist in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University, said, “Circadian rhythm is the daily rhythm in our bodies, and probably the most well-known is that of waking and sleeping.” Although complex molecules are involved in regulating the circadian rhythm, it is the daytime-nighttime cycle that resets our biological clock.

When we are resting or sleeping, our bodies are able to take a break. Rudic added, “Blood flow to your organs is going to change when you are sleeping. Your heart rate is going to decrease. One well-known observation is that the blood pressure exhibits a circadian rhythm.”

“Our data suggests that low salt does what it should do in a normal mouse: it lowers blood pressure. But when we fed a low-salt diet to a mouse that had a circadian dysfunction, basically a sleep disorder, low sodium actually causes this nondipping blood pressure and vascular disease,” Rudi said,

A low-salt diet can help reduce blood pressure as sodium is an integral part in blood pressure regulation. Blood pressure medications target the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, which is stimulated by salt. Although Rudic does not suggest abandoning a low-salt diet for treating high blood pressure, the study stresses the difficulty of managing blood pressure.

Read more at http://www.belmarrahealth.com/with-a-disrupted-circadian-rhythm-even-low-salt-diet-may-increase-resting-blood-pressure-vascular-disease-risk/