The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans encourage consuming a low-salt diet to help control high blood pressure. 2011 statistics from the American Heart Association indicate that 1 in 3 adults in the United States has hypertension. Finding ways to prevent or control blood pressure has become a focal point for many government and private organizations, and they recommend a low-salt diet as a way to reduce high blood pressure.
Causes of High Blood Pressure
Your body has multiple minerals that work in balance to keep everything working properly. Sodium, potassium and magnesium are some of these minerals, also called electrolytes. When you consume too much salt, your body works to get the sodium level back in balance with the other electrolytes. One of the ways it does this is to hold on to any extra water to help dilute the sodium in your blood. As you retain water to balance the electrolytes, your heart has to pump harder to circulate the extra volume. This results in an increase in your blood pressure. Another cause of high blood pressure is increased resistance inside your veins and arteries. This happens when plaque builds up from high cholesterol. The diameter of the vessel decreases, so blood has to flow through a narrower space, increasing the pressure.
DASH Diet
The DASH diet, or dietary approaches to stop hypertension, is a low-salt diet that both the American Heart Association and MayoClinic.com recommend. The "Journal of Human Hypertension" published a study in the April 2010 issue that looked at the effects of nutrients other than salt in that diet. Researchers found including a variety of fruits and vegetables in the diet also contributed to lowering blood pressure. The nutrients in fresh fruit and vegetables were more effective than dietary supplements in helping to lower blood pressure. In addition to being low in sodium, the fresh food adds fiber and other nutrients that help normalize blood pressure.
Other Factors
A study published in the January 2010 issue of "Archives of Internal Medicine" divided overweight participants with high blood pressure into two groups. The participants did not take medication to control their high blood pressure. One group followed the DASH diet, while the other group added weight-management activities to the DASH diet. Researchers found blood pressure reductions were greater in the group that included weight loss and regular exercise.
Recommended Sodium Amount
According to MayoClinic.com, a traditional American diet has 3,500 mg of sodium or more daily. Although sodium is part of a healthy diet, less than 2,300 mg daily is an adequate amount. The standard DASH diet permits 2,300 mg of sodium daily. There is also a lower-sodium version that permits 1,500 mg of sodium.
References
- American Heart Association: High Blood Pressure Statistics
- "Journal of Human Hypertension"; DASH Lowers Blood Pressure in Obese Hypertensives Beyond Potassium, Magnesium and Fiber; Y. Al-Solaiman, et al.; July 2009
- "Archives of Internal Medicine"; Effects of the DASH Diet Alone and in Combination With Exercise and Weight Loss on Blood Pressure and Cardiovascular Biomarkers in Men and Women With High Blood Pressure: the ENCORE Study; J.A. Blumenthal, et al.; January 2010
- MayoClinic.com; Nutrition and Healthy Eating; February 2011
