Effect of salt on blood pressure

Salt is a food that people often eat in daily life and can also be used for seasoning. Salt can improve the taste of food and also serve as a supplement of iodine, but excessive consumption of salt can have adverse effects on human health, especially for patients with hypertension. They must eat a low-salt diet. Below, we will introduce to you the impact of salt on blood pressure!

1. Effect of salt intake on blood pressure

Salt is the king of all flavors. Without salt, I really don’t know what our diet and life would be like. The human body needs salt, but it doesn’t mean the more the better. Scientific research has shown that eating too much salt is one of the important causes of high blood pressure.

The indigenous people south of the Sahara Desert hardly eat salt and rarely suffer from hypertension. According to the statistics of average daily salt intake per person: Eskimos consume 4 grams, with a 4% prevalence of hypertension; Americans consume 10 grams, with a 10% prevalence; Chinese consume about 12 grams, with a 13% prevalence; Beijing's salt intake is 14.45 grams per day, with a 14.22% prevalence of hypertension; Guangdong's salt intake is 7.54 grams per day, with a 4.95% prevalence of hypertension; farmers in Hokkaido, Japan consume 27 grams, with a prevalence of 40%, the highest in the world.

Studies have confirmed that the prevalence of hypertension increases with the increase of salt consumption. The more salt you consume, the higher your systolic and diastolic blood pressure will be. The prevalence of hypertension in people with an average daily salt consumption of 6-12g, 12-18g, and ≥18g was 1.09 times, 1.14 times, and 1.28 times that of people with less than 6g, respectively; for every 2.5g increase in daily salt intake, the average systolic blood pressure increased by 2mmHg and the diastolic blood pressure increased by 1.7mmHg

Clinical intervention treatment for hypertension has confirmed that limiting salt intake has a significant effect on lowering blood pressure. An experiment conducted on residents aged 25 to 55 found that reducing sodium intake by 1.3 grams per day can reduce systolic blood pressure by 5 mmHg; for patients with hypertension, reducing sodium intake by 50 mmol per day can reduce systolic blood pressure by 4 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 2.5 mmHg; and for those with normal blood pressure, reducing sodium intake by 50 mmol per day can reduce systolic blood pressure by 2.0 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 1.0 mmHg.

Salt intake is positively correlated with the prevalence of hypertension; a high-salt diet is an internationally recognized risk factor for hypertension.

2. Recommended Salt Intake

The World Health Organization recommends: daily salt intake per person <5g;

The dietary guidelines for Chinese residents recommend the consumption of salt as follows: 6 grams per person per day;

The Chinese Nutrition Society recommends that the maximum daily salt intake is: ≤6 grams for ordinary adults; ≤4 grams for patients with hypertension.

3. What are the disadvantages of excessive salt intake?

1. The amount of salt you eat directly affects your blood pressure level. The blood pressure of obese and overweight people, those over 50 years old and those with familial hypertension are more sensitive to salt. The direct impact of salt on blood pressure has been recognized worldwide.

2. Salt can destroy the protective film of the gastric mucosa, weakening the protective ability of the gastric mucosa, which can lead to gastritis, gastric ulcers, and gastric cancer.