Salt and High Blood Pressure
The Truth About Salt and High Blood Pressure
If you have high blood pressure then I'm sure you'll have heard of the link between salt intake and high blood pressure. Too much salt causes high blood pressure - reduce your salt intake and lower your blood pressure: or so the conventional story goes!
But new research is raising some very interesting questions about the role of salt in blood pressure control.
An article published in India summarises the current state of affairs quite well.
High blood pressure is not only caused by too much salt. Neither is blood pressure lowered by simply cutting salt out of your diet.
It seems that it is not only salt intake that controls blood pressure, but much more related to how your body manages sodium and its proportion to the amount of potassium, calcium and magnesium in your body.
Research has shown that deficiencies in potassium, calcium and magnesium have a much greater impact on blood pressure than does salt intake. These other minerals are so important in controlling blood pressure that when they are out of balance with each other, they can make salt more of a threat to healthy blood pressure.
So what should you do to improve your blood pressure control?
Well, reduce your salt intake certainly - but you also need to increase the amount of potassium, calcium and magnesium in your diet. The combination of these things can make a huge difference.
If you have high blood pressure then I'm sure you'll have heard of the link between salt intake and high blood pressure. Too much salt causes high blood pressure - reduce your salt intake and lower your blood pressure: or so the conventional story goes!
But new research is raising some very interesting questions about the role of salt in blood pressure control.
An article published in India summarises the current state of affairs quite well.
High blood pressure is not only caused by too much salt. Neither is blood pressure lowered by simply cutting salt out of your diet.
It seems that it is not only salt intake that controls blood pressure, but much more related to how your body manages sodium and its proportion to the amount of potassium, calcium and magnesium in your body.
Research has shown that deficiencies in potassium, calcium and magnesium have a much greater impact on blood pressure than does salt intake. These other minerals are so important in controlling blood pressure that when they are out of balance with each other, they can make salt more of a threat to healthy blood pressure.
So what should you do to improve your blood pressure control?
Well, reduce your salt intake certainly - but you also need to increase the amount of potassium, calcium and magnesium in your diet. The combination of these things can make a huge difference.
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