Atrial fibrillation is a condition which is known to have an effect on the heartbeat and the culprit for an increased risk of stroke. This condition is quite unpredictable as it often doesn’t have any visible symptoms. Moreover, the triggers are still unknown. However, there are some common atrial fibrillation triggers which you should know in order to decrease the risk of stroke and attacks.

Some of the most common triggers are considered to be smoking, alcohol, over-the-counter medicines and exercise. However, what you probably didn’t know is the fact that too much salt can raise the risk of atrial fibrillation.

How Does Salt Raise the Risk of Atrial Fibrillation?

Having a high-salt diet can be a possible trigger for one of the most common heart rhythm disorder, atrial fibrillation. Recently, there was a study which determined that atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat, which can cause blood clots, stroke and heart failure, can be triggered by too much salt intake.

The study was conducted in Finland and 716 middle-aged men and women participated in it for an average of 19 years. During that time period, 74 of the participants were diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. As a matter of fact, the participants who had higher levels of salt in their diet had a higher rate of atrial fibrillation than those who took small amounts of salt. Other factors were also taken into consideration, such as body fat, age, smoking, and blood pressure. The results revealed that salt consumption was independently linked with the risk of atrial fibrillation.

However, it’s important to mention that only the link has been proven not that too much salt is the direct trigger for the heart rhythm disorder.

The Annals of Medicine published the study recently and the study was conducted by TeroPaakko from the University of Oulu in Finland. The study provides an evidence that salt in the diet can increase the risk of atrial fibrillation. Hence, people who are at an increased risk of atrial fibrillation should definitely limit the salt intake. This means that there will be beneficial to limit the intake of processed foods which are packed with salt.

Reduce Your Salt Intake

If you want to reduce the risk of developing atrial fibrillation, it’s probably best if you limit the sodium intake. In fact, any dose of more than 1500 mg of salt a day is considered too much. Intaking too much salt means that you will experience increased blood pressure and that both your mineral balance and heart health will suffer.

Thus, it’s crucial to limit or completely cut off the intake of sodium in your diet by eliminating processed, frozen, and takeaway food. Replace salt when cooking with spices and herbs. Last but not least, make sure to intake potassium and magnesium, which will counter the sodium you consume.