Cut down on salt and sleep better

IF YOU are often woken up by an urge to go to the toilet, you may need to cut back on salt in your diet.

Frequently needing the toilet in the middle of the night, a problem called nocturia, affects more than half of over-fifties.

Although it may seem a trivial problem, doctors warn the resulting lack of sleep can lead to stress, irritability and fatigue. But a simple dietary change can markedly reduce the problem, researchers found.

A Japanese team, whose work was presented yesterday at the European Society of Urology conference in London, tracked 321 volunteers for three months.

When 223 volunteers were asked to cut their salt by 25% from 10.7g to 8g a day, their average night-time toilet visits fell from an average of 2.3 trips to 1.4 times. In contrast, when 98 subjects increased their intake from 9.9 to 11g they found their need to urinate increased from 2.3 times a night to 2.7 times.

The NHS recommends that adults eat only 6g of salt each day. The researchers also found daytime urination reduced when salt was cut, but the fall in nocturnal bathroom visits led to an improvement in the quality of life.

Study author Dr Matsuo Tomohiro, of Nagasaki University, said: “This is the first study to measure how salt intake affects the frequency of going to the bathroom.

“Night-time urination is a real problem for many people, especially as they get older. This work holds out the possibility that a simply dietary modification might significantly improve the quality of life for many people.”

The sodium in salt plays a key role in maintaining the balance of fluids in tissues and the blood. But too much salt leads to an increase in the amount of urine the kidneys produce, resulting in a condition known as polyuria, or excessive urination.

In severe cases this can cause swelling when fluid is retained under the skin, often in the feet or ankles. High salt intake makes people drink more because they tend to be thirstier, compounding the problem.

A second study presented at the same recent conference in London found that treating the condition sleep apnoea, which is often associated with loud snoring, can also prevent the need to urinate during the night. – Daily Mail