A new study suggests that reducing daily salt intake by just one teaspoon may be as effective as blood pressure medication.
Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, tested high- and low-salt diets on hundreds of patients, some of whom already had high blood pressure, and found that cutting out a can of Heinz soup every day lowered people’s blood pressure. reduced. six percent within a week.
This reduction was comparable to thiazide diuretic hydrochlorothiazide, a popular blood pressure drug.
Salt causes the body to retain water, which means that reduced salt intake lowers the water content in your blood and leads to less pressure on blood vessel walls, lowering blood pressure.
High blood pressure is the most common chronic disease worldwide, affecting more than 1.3 billion people. The condition is also a major risk factor for heart, brain and kidney disease.
Study leader Dr. Deepak Gupta, an assistant professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University, told DailyMail.com that the study showed that “you can see rapid results within a week, and the effect… you’re off one blood pressure drug.”
Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, found that a low-sodium diet lowered people’s blood pressure within just a week, to a point comparable to popular blood pressure medications.
Salt is considered one of the main causes of high blood pressure. The mineral is essential for keeping our body fluids at the correct salt levels so that nerve and muscle cells, including the heart, can function properly.
But too much salt causes the body to retain water. This increases blood pressure, which in turn taxes the blood vessels, heart and kidneys.
American adults consume an estimated 3.5 grams of salt per day, this exceeds the World Health Organization recommendations of 2 grams per day and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and American Heart Association guideline of 2.3 grams per day.
It is estimated that excess salt has contributed to approximately 1.9 million deaths annually.
In the study, which took place between April 2021 and February 2023 in Chicago, Illinois, and Birmingham, Alabama, 213 participants aged 50 to 75 ate a high-sodium diet for a week, followed by a low-sodium diet for a week. or vice versa.
The average age of the participants was 61 years. About 65 percent were women and 64 percent were black.
For the high-sodium diet, participants ate an extra teaspoon of salt per day, which was achieved by adding a salt packet to their usual meals.
On the low-sodium diet, meals were prepared specifically for the participants, so that all they did was eat a quarter teaspoon of salt per day.
However, researchers said everything in the low-salt diet is available at supermarkets or online retailers. The meals include frozen dinners from the Amy’s Kitchen brand, which has a range of low-sodium soups and casseroles.
The participants’ blood pressure was continuously measured and their urine was collected for 24 hours to monitor their adherence to the diet.
The researchers calculated that the participants’ normal diet contained about 4.5 grams of salt daily, which they said was ‘already very high’. WAS A GROUP TOLD TO JUST EAT THEIR NORMAL DIET?
The average blood pressure while eating the participants’ usual diet was 125 mm Hg.
When individuals followed a high-sodium diet, their sodium intake increased to an average of 5 grams per day, giving them a blood pressure reading of 126 mm Hg.
Researchers speculated that the lack of ‘significant changes in blood pressure’ with the high-sodium diet because the participants’ regular diet was already ‘sodium saturated’.
They added: ‘We warn against the interpretation that adding sodium outside the usual diet does not make a negative contribution to health.’
Dr. Gupta told DailyMail.com: ‘We cannot rule out other bad health effects. We may not see it in blood pressure, but high sodium can cause more inflammation or do other things.”
On the low-sodium diet, salt intake was reduced to 1.3 grams per day – the equivalent of six ounces of salted pretzels – and participants’ blood pressure dropped to an average of 119 mm Hg.
Reducing salt intake lowered blood pressure in three-quarters of participants, with a median reduction of 7 mm Hg. This is similar to the reduction in blood pressure achieved using first-line blood pressure medications, such as hydrochlorothiazide, sold under the brand names Microzide, HydroDiuril and Oretic.
Hydrochlorothiazide is a medication to treat high blood pressure and fluid retention. It is taken in daily capsules.
The drug is used to help reduce the amount of water in the body by increasing urine flow.
Approximately 41.8 million prescriptions for hydrochlorothiazide were filled in the US in 2020.
Blood pressure reduction was observed in participants regardless of age, gender, race, whether they already had high blood pressure and whether they were already taking blood pressure medications.
Dr. Gupta said: ‘Clinically meaningful reductions in blood pressure by reducing dietary sodium were achieved safely and rapidly in one week, in the vast majority of middle-aged to older people, with an effect comparable to that of commonly used medicines.’
The researchers plan to publish the low-sodium diet so people can mimic it at home.
Dr. George Bakris, a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, who was not involved in the study, said: “Don’t underestimate the power of salt.”
The results were presented at the American Heart Association conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.