How many times have you been
told to watch how much salt you consume or to cut back on how much salt you
use? That’s because it’s been widely believed that lower salt intake, equates
lower blood pressure and heart attack and stroke risk. Well a new study has
raised serious questions about the merits of doing that. Researchers found that
while cutting salt intake may reduce blood pressure, it may cause some other negative
effects.
The study which was done by
Danish Scientist Niels Graudal, takes into account the results from 167
previous studies, and suggests that a low sodium diet has an unremarkable
effect on actual blood pressure in persons with normal blood pressure. The effect
on persons with high blood pressure was more significant (3.5%). The study
focussed primarily on European and American subjects, but Asians and Blacks
with reduced sodium diets showed more marked reductions in blood pressure.
Unfortunately the study found
that the reduction in blood pressure came with an increase in Cholesterol
levels which is linked to heart disease. While the good scientists caution that
this is not an excuse to consume more salt, it does confirm that a moderate
amount of salt in a normal diet won’t kill you. Reducing salt consumption they
say, “has both positive and negative effects that might not reduce the risk of
heart attack or stroke.”
