Low sodium diet to reduce blood pressure

Melissa Southern Garcia, Dietitian, southerndietitian@yahoo.com

My last article discussed the question of sugar and its effects on the body. This week let's look at a similar question often asked by my clients about salt. Is too much salt really harmful?

As with so many issues in nutrition, the answer is not clear- cut. For many years we have been told that eating too much salt will cause high blood pressure. High blood pressure affects millions of individuals around the world. It has been called the silent killer because there often are no obvious symptoms to warn a person that something is wrong.

Simply put, high blood pressure increases the risk of heart attack and stroke and is a serious condition that needs to be monitored by your doctor.

If you have high blood pressure, your doctor will recommend a low salt diet along with medication and lifestyle changes.

One of the simplest ways to control your blood pressure is to lose excess weight. Multiple studies have shown that losing as little as 4.5 kilograms or about 10 pounds can lead to a direct drop in your blood pressure.

Another sure way to lower your blood pressure is to exercise regularly. Exercising 30-45 minutes at least three times a week can also lower your numbers. Managing and avoiding stress in your life has also been shown to have a positive effect on blood pressure.

So what role does diet play in lowering your blood pressure? The main component of salt -- sodium -- has been shown to increase blood pressure in the bulk of research. However, more recent studies have indicated that only a certain percentage of the population is actually "sensitive" to salt.

Being "salt-sensitive" means that eating foods high in sodium actually affects your blood pressure, or more importantly, that if you have high blood pressure, decreasing your salt intake will help lower your blood pressure. A diet low in sodium should, in principle, help decrease pressure.

However, in many cases, a person's blood pressure remains at the same level while they are forced to suffer through an unpalatable diet. The scientific evidence is mixed and the effectiveness of a low sodium diet can only be judged on a case by case basis with your doctor or dietitian.

Other helpful dietary changes are related not to sodium, but to the mineral potassium. Potassium is found in a variety of green leafy vegetables and many fruits such as bananas and oranges.

Multiple studies have shown that potassium has just the opposite effect of sodium by lowering blood pressure. Other studies have shown that a diet high in magnesium -- also found in fruits and vegetables -- can also improve blood pressure.

If you have already been diagnosed with high blood pressure the above are important changes you should make. However, if you do not have high blood pressure, should you worry about your sodium intake too?

The issue of consuming a diet high in sodium may not just boil down to whether or not you are "salt-sensitive".

There really is no standardized test to determine if you are salt sensitive and it is easiest to assume that you are not. However, it's not the salt in your salt shaker that really makes up the bulk of salt intake in a diet.

Usually around 65 percent of the sodium we consume comes from processed foods. Along with the sodium in these foods usually come high calories, fat -- particularly artery-clogging fat from hydrogenated oils, and little in the way of vitamins and minerals.

When we consider the negative effects of overweight on health and specifically on blood pressure, reducing your sodium intake may be a simple as reducing your consumption of processed foods.

The added benefits of losing excess calories and fat will lead to a diet that is generally healthier. Adding more fresh fruits and vegetables to your diet will not only give you the potassium and magnesium you need to help keep your blood pressure in check, but will also provide you with a variety of vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants that make for a healthier body overall.

As a general rule for those who do not suffer from high blood pressure, sodium should be monitored as part of a healthy diet, avoiding excess and making wise choices. Exercise regularly, maintain an ideal body weight and choose fresh foods over processed.