Healthy eating does not offset high-salt diets

Healthy eating does not offset a high-salt diet, new research suggests.

Overseasoning food raises people’s blood pressure regardless of how many fruit and vegetables they eat, a study found today.

Consuming more than the average British person’s daily salt intake of 8.5 grams causes the heart to work significantly harder to pump blood around the body, putting people at risk of life-threatening strokes, the research adds.

Lead author Dr Queenie Chan from Imperial College London, said: ‘We currently have a global epidemic of high salt intake and high blood pressure. This research shows there are no cheats when it comes to reducing blood pressure.

‘Having a low-salt diet is key – even if your diet is otherwise healthy and balanced.’

The NHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention both recommend adults eat no more than around one-and-a-quarter teaspoons of salt, or six grams, a day, which is easily exceeded if people eat ready-prepared food.

High blood pressure affects more than one in four adults in the UK.

Healthy eating does not offset a high-salt diet, new research suggests (stock)

ARE HEALTHY DIETS OR MEDICATION MORE EFFECTIVE AT LOWERING BLOOD PRESSURE?

Low-salt diets packed with fruit and vegetables lower blood pressure more than medication after just four weeks, a Harvard University study suggested in November 2017.

Cutting out salt and eating lots of fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy, reduces people with high blood pressure’s results by an average of 21 mm Hg, the research adds.

To put that into context, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the US’ drug-approving body, will not accept anti-hypertension medications unless they lower blood pressure by at least 3-4 mm Hg.

Most medications typically reduce hypertension readings by between 10 and 15 mm Hg, but come with side effects including fatigue, dizziness and headache.

Study author Dr Lawrence Appel said: ‘What we’re observing from the combined dietary intervention is a reduction in systolic blood pressure as high as, if not greater than, that achieved with prescription drugs.

‘It’s an important message to patients that they can get a lot of mileage out of adhering to a healthy and low-sodium diet.’

Around 32 percent of adults in the US, and one in four in the UK, have high blood pressure, which puts them at risk of heart disease and stroke.

The researchers analyzed 412 people with early-stage hypertension who were not taking high blood pressure medication.

Some of the study’s participants were fed a ‘DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet’, which includes lots of fruit, vegetables and low-fat dairy products, with minimal saturated fat.

The remaining participants ate a typical American diet.

All of the participants were fed different sodium levels equaling around 0.5, one or two teaspoons of salt a day over four weeks with five-day breaks in between.

‘We are urging food manufacturers to take steps to reduce salt’

On their back of the study’s findings, Dr Chan said: ‘As a large amount of the salt in our diet comes from processed food, we are urging food manufacturers to take steps to reduce salt in their products.’

Longer, larger studies are required to assess the impact of people’s overall diets on their blood-pressure readings, the scientists adds.

The researchers, which also included scientists from Northwestern University, analysed data from the INTERMAP study, which investigated the diets of 4,680 people aged between 40 and 59 from the US, UK, Japan and China between 1997 and 1999.

Two urine samples were taken from the study’s participants over four days.

These samples were assessed for their sodium and potassium levels. Potassium is present in high amounts in green, leafy vegetables and has been linked to lower blood pressure.

The study’s participants’ overall diets were also analysed.

The findings were published in the journal Hypertension.

Two teaspoons of salt a day damages the heart

This comes after research released in August last year suggested eating just two teaspoons of salt a day damages the heart.

Having a sodium intake of 3.73 grams, the equivalent of around two teaspoons of salt, is associated with larger heart chambers, a study found.

Previous research suggests hearts become enlarged when the muscle is overworked due to an underlying condition, such as high blood pressure.

Such a salt intake also increases strain on the heart’s muscles and boosts its beating rate, the research adds.

These results are thought to be due to salt’s impact on blood pressure, which previous research has linked to heart attacks, stroke and kidney disease.

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