Commercial rodent diets contain more sodium than rats need

The dietary sodium requirements for rats have been a matter of debate. Our hypothesis was that normal commercial rodent chow contains sodium in excess of dietary needs and that this could have a significant impact on cardiovascular and renal physiology. To investigate dietary sodium requirements, 3-wk-old weanling Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a custom pelleted diet containing no sodium that was isocaloric to normal commercial rodent chow. These rats were provided with two drinking bottles; one contained water, and the other contained 0.5% NaCl. Thus they could choose and consume sodium as needed. Age-matched controls received normal pelleted Harlan Teklad 22/5 rodent diet (0.5% sodium content) and water ad libitum. Body weight and liquid intake were monitored over 7 wk until the rats were 10 wk old. At the end of the study, blood pressure was recorded. Weekly sodium intake in the experimental group was only 15% of that reported for rats fed normal rodent chow beginning in the first week postweaning. Growth was identical in the two groups (7.8 +/- 0.1 vs. 7.6 +/- 0.1 g/day), as was the total fluid volume intake. Blood pressure was significantly lower in the experimental rats compared with controls (96 +/- 4 vs. 122 +/- 4 mmHg, P < 0.05). These data suggest that, when given the choice, rats will consume significantly less sodium than provided in commercial chow, without any alteration in their growth rate. Rats fed standard commercial rodent chow may consume at least seven times more sodium than is necessary. This suggests commercial rodent diets may force excess sodium to accommodate caloric intake.