According to a recent study, around 75% of people’s blood pressure might be lowered by following a low-sodium diet.
The JAMA Open Network study, which comprised 213 participants, discovered that reducing sodium intake led to a systolic blood pressure decrease that was on par with first-line blood pressure drugs.
Participants in the study ranged in age from 50 to 75. They included people with normal blood pressure, patients with uncontrolled high blood pressure, patients with high blood pressure under medication, and high blood pressure patients not receiving therapy. One week on a regular diet, one week on a low-sodium diet, and one week on a high-sodium diet were given to the study participants.
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Urine was collected during the trial to make sure participants followed the diet, and blood pressure was monitored continuously for 24 hours to ascertain the findings. An average of 500 mg of sodium were consumed daily in the low-sodium diet.
Regardless of whether a patient had high blood pressure beforehand or was taking medication to lower blood pressure, the study found that 73.4% of patients had lower blood pressure when following a low-sodium diet.
Middle-aged to elderly persons are expected to consume 3.5 g of salt on a daily average, which is more than what the American Heart Association and the World Health Organization suggest. Different people may react to sodium intake in different ways; some people may be more sensitive to salt intake.
A low-sodium diet was found to have little negative consequences by researchers, yet some trial participants did experience weakness and cramping. On a low-sodium diet, the majority of patients did see a drop in blood pressure; however, 5% of participants experienced a rise in blood pressure upon reduction in salt intake. They recommended more investigation to ascertain if those outcomes were the consequence of patients not adhering to dietary recommendations or a sign of inverse salt sensitivity.