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A new study on blood pressure conducted at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine found that reducing daily salt intake by one teaspoon can reduce hypertension as effectively as certain medications. However, this should be considered a preventive approach and not a substitute for medications.
Coprincipal investigator Norrina Allen, professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, said:
“This is the first study to show that people who are already on blood pressure medication can lower their blood pressure even more by limiting sodium. And regardless of medication, we found 70% to 75% of people are likely to see a reduction in their blood pressure if they lower the sodium in their diet,"
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High blood pressure and its health concerns
According to the American Heart Association, the recommended daily salt intake in the diet should correspond to less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium a day. A teaspoon of salt contains around 2,300 milligrams of sodium.
Hypertension is also known as a 'silent killer' because the health consequences are felt after many years. According to a report published by the World Health Organization in 2023, hypertension affects one in three adults worldwide and often leads to heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, and stroke.
Nearly half of all Americans live with hypertension. About a third of this population suffers from resistant hypertension, where one or more types of medications fail to improve the condition.
Another study published in 2021 found that men aged 20 to 49 are up to 70% more likely to have severe hypertension than women of the same age group.
The outcome of the study
Dr. Andrew Freeman, director of cardiovascular prevention and wellness at National Jewish Health in Denver, told CNN:
“Most people today eat way too much salt because it’s added into nearly everything we eat, A teaspoon of salt may seem like a small amount. However, that added salt seems to have an effect on blood pressure that is surprisingly large,”
The new study was published in the journal JAMA, and 213 people aged 50 to 75 were subjected to one week of a high- or low-sodium diet to understand the effects of salt intake on BP.
In this study, about 25% of the participants had normal BP, while another 25% suffered from untreated hypertension. Those with lower salt intake had a dramatic improvement compared to people on a high-sodium diet.
Dr. Allen said:
“Compared to their normal diet, people reduced their blood pressure by about 6 millimeters of mercury, about the same effect you’d see for a first-line blood pressure medication. In addition, that drop happened pretty quickly and was consistent for people with normal blood pressure, slightly high BP, or those already on medications.”
This study was undertaken to understand whether salt plays an important role in the pathophysiology of hypertension. Further studies are required to understand more about how our diet plays an important role in our overall health.
Indranil Biswas is a nutritionist and personal trainer with a diploma in dietetics and personal training with a specialization in sports nutrition and strength training.
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