Making a dietary change can significantly improve your blood pressure

A dietary change can lower blood pressure in almost everyone, according to new research.

A study published Saturday in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that reducing salt intake to about a teaspoon can lower blood pressure, even for people with high blood pressure and those taking blood pressure medications.

Researchers from Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), Northwestern Medicine and the University of Alabama at Birmingham conducted one of the largest studies they say examines the effect of reducing sodium in the diet on blood pressure.

“Previously, we didn’t know if people who were already taking blood pressure medications could lower their blood pressure more by reducing sodium,” Dr. Norina Allen, a professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University, said in a news release.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that people ideally consume no more than 1,500 milligrams of salt per day, roughly two-thirds of a teaspoon. However, according to the AHA, most people consume more than 3,400 milligrams per day. In this particular study, the researchers also noted that many people already had very high sodium diets of about 4,500 milligrams per day.

More than 200 participants in their 50s and 70s living in Chicago and Birmingham, Alabama, were randomly assigned to follow a high-sodium diet that added 2,200 milligrams of sodium to their usual diet for one week. or follow a low-sodium diet. -Dietary sodium, which they classified as a total of 500 mg per day. The following week, the groups switched diets.

After comparing the participants’ blood pressure devices and urine samples before and after the diet, the researchers found that nearly three-quarters of the participants’ systolic blood pressure (the top number on a regular blood pressure measurement) dropped significantly when they followed the low-sodium diet. Decreased. Compared to both a normal diet and a high-sodium diet.

Systolic blood pressure decreased by 7 to 8 mmHg while participants followed the low-sodium diet compared to the high-sodium group. The researchers noted that these reductions were consistent with first-line drugs used to treat high blood pressure.

High blood pressure can lead to heart failure, heart attacks, and strokes because it puts extra pressure on your arteries. This affects the heart’s ability to work effectively and pump blood, Dr. Allen said. It can be challenging, but reducing sodium in any amount will be beneficial.

Researchers were encouraged by the discovery that blood pressure can be lowered quickly with relatively easy lifestyle changes.

As any physical activity is better than none for most people. Any reduction in sodium from the current usual diet is probably better than nothing for most people when it comes to blood pressure, Deepak Gupta, MD, associate professor of medicine at VUMC, said in a statement.

This isn’t the first time researchers have found that even a small reduction in sodium can have a big impact. According to a recent Mayo Clinic study, reducing salt intake can also reduce the chance of developing type 2 diabetes.