A recent medical study found that reducing daily table salt (sodium) intake by one teaspoon can reduce blood pressure to the same extent as taking medications for high blood pressure and may also be reduced for people not taking drugs.
The study, conducted by researchers from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University and the University of Alabama, and published in the journal “JAMA,” indicated that this decrease occurred regardless of the participants’ high blood pressure status or their use of antihypertensive drugs.
The research involved 213 people, aged between 50 and 75, who followed a low-sodium diet for a week.
The study’s lead researcher, Deepak Gupta, a professor of medicine at Fineberf College of Medicine, said the participants reduced their salt intake by about a teaspoon per day compared to their usual diet, and the result was a decrease in systolic blood pressure of about 6 millimeters, which is similar to the effect resulting from hypertension drugs.
“This is the first study to show that people already taking blood pressure medications can further lower blood pressure by limiting sodium,” said the study’s lead researcher, Norina Allen, professor of preventive medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine .
The researcher also indicated that the results showed that between 70 and 75 percent of the participants, regardless of whether they were already taking blood pressure medications or not, their blood pressure decreased as dietary sodium was reduced. .
“A teaspoon of salt may seem like a small amount,” said Dr. Andrew Freeman, a professor of cardiovascular disease at Denver, who was not involved in the study. “However, added salt appears to have a significant impact on blood pressure,” he told CNN. This.”
One teaspoon of salt is equivalent to 2,300 milligrams, which is the maximum limit recommended by American health authorities for people over the age of 14, however the American Heart Association recommends following a diet that contains less than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day .
The World Health Organization states that consuming large amounts of salt is one of the factors leading to a higher incidence of cardiovascular disease and stroke.
Data shows that average salt consumption in most Middle Eastern countries is around 10 grams per person per day, which is more than double the amount recommended by the World Health Organization.
Salt is present in almost everything we eat, both because high levels are found in most processed and ready-to-eat foods and because we add it when we prepare food.
Reducing salt consumption to less than 5 grams per person per day can protect against cardiovascular diseases, considered the leading cause of death in the world according to the United Nations and responsible for 17.3 million premature deaths worldwide. The number is expected to increase to 23 million by 2030. In the Eastern Mediterranean region, cardiovascular diseases, which include heart disease and stroke, are a leading cause of disability and premature death.
The organization warned last September that around 4 in 5 people who suffer from hypertension do not receive adequate treatment and that 76 million deaths could be avoided between 2023 and 2050 if countries were able to expand treatment coverage.
“4 out of 5″… An important warning from the World Health Organization regarding hypertension
The World Health Organization has warned that the vast majority of hypertension patients do not receive adequate treatment and that tens of millions of deaths could be avoided.