Heart Talks

No-added-salt diet lowers blood pressure Eating excessive amounts of salt may increase a person’s blood pressure, but there’s good news. A recent study shows that trying a no-added-salt diet can significantly lower your blood pressure, reducing your risk of heart disease.

The researchers examined 80 patients who had mild to moderate high blood pressure, but were not taking any medication for their condition. Of these, 60 patients went on a six-week no-added-salt diet, avoiding pre-salted food and salt at the table. The rest maintained their current diet, acting as controls.

At the end of the trial, those on the no-added-salt diet had lowered their systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 12.1 /6.8 mm Hg respectively during the day and 11.1/5.9 mm Hg at night. This demonstrates that reducing table salt (sodium chloride) intake from 10 to 12 g/day to 5 to 6 g/day lowers blood pressure. The control group’s blood pressure levels stayed almost exactly the same.

The researchers recommend that all patients with mild, moderate and high blood pressure should try a no-added-salt diet by avoiding the salt shaker and food that has added salt.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation recommends that Canadians keep their sodium intake to a total of 2,300 mg ( the equivalent of 1 tsp/5 mL of salt) a day from all sources including salt in fast foods, prepared foods, salt during cooking and at the table.

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