Salt High Blood Pressure Myth

Salt High Blood Pressure Myth: Facts Vs Fiction

You are waiting for your doctor in the examination room when he informs you that your blood pressure levels have reached dangerous heights. Your heart sinks.

For years, we have been lead to believe about salt high blood pressure myth go hand & hand, so what if this isn’t true? Well, the belief that everyone ought to reduce consumption of salt is becoming more popular, and we all know someone who is doing it now. But what was the source of this salt high blood pressure myth belief? Has it evolved from a scientific principle or a salt high blood pressure myth that we have all accepted?

The warnings persist that high salt intake causes rapid blood pressure elevation which leads to heart diseases and strokes. You would, however, not believe it – there is far more to the salt high blood pressure myth than what the old medical science once told us. In fact, modern science is overturning the principles that have been recommended for the past 40 years, stating that salt is not really the cause of high blood pressure. That’s why in today’s article, we will discuss the connection between salt and hypertension, having fact-checked about this common salt high blood pressure myth.

The Origin of the Salt High Blood Pressure Myth

Why has the medical community continued to blame salt as the main cause of high blood pressure for many years? Understanding this connection requires studying public health and nutritional science history leading to the formation of this salt-high blood pressure myth.

During the mid-20th century, scientists observed that blood pressure decreased through sodium reduction in particular individuals. Dr. Walter Kempner performed a limited research effort during the 1940s that demonstrated blood pressure reduction among several hypertension patients when they followed strict low-salt diets. The research study declared sodium to be the main cause that contributes to heart disease alongside high blood pressure.

During the 1960s Dr. Lewis Dahl conducted research that concluded that present-day salt restriction guidance was being developed. Through his experiments proofing hypertension development in specific rat populations, Dahl unintentionally started a worldwide effort to reduce salt consumption. As per my point of view, the experimental findings achieved in rats did not align exactly with the human population response. Individual gene sequences life patterns and different metabolic characteristics demonstrate how salt’s influence exceeds the findings from these research papers.

After the 1970s governments & health organizations accepted this narrative thus making sodium reduction the primary step to reduce cardiovascular disease prevention rates. The introduction of dietary directives included sodium restriction guidelines while salt received priority status for dealing with hypertension. Food labeling together with public health organizations along with dietary trends backed up this tag. People started to perceive foods with low sodium content as healthy while consuming nutrient-poor foods with convenient packaging.

But were these early studies comprehensive enough to concluded salt high blood pressure myth?

What They Missed

As more research emerged scientific studies began to question if the salt blood pressure link was universal. Here’s why :

Role of genetics: Each person experiences a different reaction to salt intake. Some people, known as “salt-sensitive” are more prone to blood pressure spikes, others can tolerate more sodium with minimal effect.

Potassium’s Role: Some of the initial works lacked an understanding of how potassium assists in controlling blood pressure in the body through the counterbalancing of sodium. Sodium increases hypertension and potassium reduces hypertension and when diets are low in potassium a strong effect of sodium is produced.

Lifestyle factors: The effect of stress alongside physical activity and diet quality on blood pressure measurement remained inadequately researched in multiple initial studies despite their significant impact on regulation.

What You Really Need to Know About Salt High Blood Pressure Myth

Hypertension operates under the name of the “silent killer.” Most people with high blood pressure experience no symptoms yet the condition advances to dangerous health conditions which can cause heart attack and stroke.

High blood pressure affects 49% of U.S. adults while doctors typically attribute this condition to salt intake based on reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Category	SYSTOLIC (mm Hg)	Diastolic (mm Hg)
Normal	Less than 120	And less than 80
Elevated	120 – 129	And less than 80
Stage 1 Hypertension	130 – 139	Or 80 – 89
Stage 2 Hypertension	140 or higher	Or 90 or higher
Hypertensive Crisis	Higher than 180	Higher than 120

Also you may heard about the most common myth that salt causes high pressure or heart disease which makes you avoid it like plaque. Although salt have a bad reputation in the patho-physiology of high blood pressure in actual it’s not the root cause of high blood pressure. You and your doctor continuously treat the wrong cause and end up with severe complications such as heart attack, stroke, and other cardiovascular issues.

If we look at First World Countries such as Japan which has by far away the highest salt consumption than any other country their risk of heart disease is much lower than that of the Americans and Europeans. If salt is really a huge risk of heart disease, then we should at least find some correlation there, but we find the exact opposite. That means the countries eating a high salt diet tend to have less heart disease and cardiovascular events.

Debunking The Salt Myths With Scientific Studies

Institute Of Medicine

The Institute Of Medicine in 2013 actually came out with a statement that when they focus on studies looking at the connection between salt and heart disease a low salt diet was likely not helpful in most people and secondly, if you have heart disease, it may be harmful to you.

Then in 2014, the Institute Of Medicine in the United States concluded something quite to the contrary, when they looked at the scientific evidence, the first conclusion they made was that: “the lack of evidence of benefit and concerns for harm suggest that low salt intake should not be recommended. It means they recommend that you should not go on a low-salt diet.

NHANES Surveys (I, II And III)

The first NHANES survey was done in 1972-75 in the United States, and they concluded that the ones that eat the least salt tend to have the highest risk of death & highest risk of cardiovascular events, opposite to the salt high blood pressure myth.

And this wasn’t an isolated finding, there are several other NHANES studies subsequent to that. There was another NHANES II study that showed exactly the same thing that the people eating a low salt diet had a higher risk of overall death as well as a higher risk of heart attacks. Totally opposite to what you might heard about the salt high blood pressure myth.

The same thing was found in NHANES III, less salt tends to have more heart disease compared to those eating more salt. This is the exact opposite of what you might expect about salt high blood pressure myth.

Journal Of American Medical Association

In 2011, a prospective study published in the Journal Of American Medical Association related to low salt diet Vs high-salt diet found that the people on a low-salt diet had three times more cardiovascular deaths than the high-salt diet group, and broke the salt-high blood pressure myth.

British Medical Journal

An article published in the British Medical Journal about salt high blood pressure myth. They took 34 different trials that had been published and they included in their analysis that when you eat a low salt diet, you can reduce the blood pressure by 5.4mm of mercury of diastolic and 2.4mm of mercury of systolic, which is not too much.

Another study including reviews questioned the traditional misconception that people held. The European Heart Journal released a long review in 2020 which studied more than 85000 participants to concluded that sodium consumption has no impact on heart health or hypertension.

Study	Participants	Findings
European Heart Journal (2020)	85000+	No significant link between salt and cardiovascular risk in normal BP individuals.
PURE study (2018)	90000+	Moderate salt intake associated with lowest risk of cardiovascular events.
Cochrane Review (2020)	8000+	Limited evidence supporting universal salt reduction for blood pressure control

These studies showed that there is more to the salt high blood pressure myth than initially predicted, and a healthy amount of salt is definitely good for one’s health.

Journal Of Hypertension Study

Another study published in the Journal Of Hypertension in 1995 showed that when they looked at the older age group found that the group who ate the least salt had a much higher risk of death compared to the highest salt group, and the group that ate a high salt dying at only about a third of the rate of the low salt people. Showed that the salt high blood pressure myth is totally wrong.

A Real-World Case Study: The Salt Hypothesis

The INTERSALT study which is one of the huge study ever done on salt high blood pressure myth in 1988.

The INTERSALT Study: Global Perspective

This study was done across 52 groups over 32 countries, INTERSALT looked at over 10,000 people aged 20-59. The aim was to see the relationship between salt and blood pressure across all populations and whether is salt high blood pressure myth is true or wrong.

Key findings that challenge the salt high blood pressure myth hypothesis

1. No Correlation in Most Populations

• As expected, most populations showed no correlation between salt intake and blood pressure.
• 33 of the 52 populations had no statistically significant relationship between salt and hypertension.
• The countries that eat high salt diet also have higher life expectancy.

2. Role of genetics & Lifestyle factors

The study showed that genetics and overall lifestyle played a much bigger role in blood pressure.

• Some populations with high salt intake had surprisingly low blood pressure.

Our Body Cannot Survive Without Sodium

Sodium is an essential mineral for the human body, as the human body cannot survive without sodium. It plays a crucial role in the body functions such as :

• Blood pressure regulation
• Muscle Function & Contraction
• Energy levels
• Hydration & Fluid balance
• Bone density and Bone health
• Acid-base balance in our body
• Immunity
• Nerve Role & Transmission

Sodium goes into our body through foods and drinks we take daily and it is removed from the body through sweat and urine. Sodium in the human body is well filtered by healthy kidneys which decide the amount it has to release through urine. Sodium intake and sodium losses reach an imbalance in the body and the total amount varies. The amount of sodium in the blood can be:

• Too less (known as Hyponatremia)
• If its high (Known as Hypernatremia)

The two best type of salt that I recommend are; “Celtic Sea salt” and “Pink Himalayan salt“.

How Your Body Really Handles Excess Salt

• The kidneys operate filtration to eliminate surplus sodium. Urine carries the substance away to conserve electrolyte stability of the body.
• Through sweat your body acts to eliminate extra sodium from the body.
• A hormone called Aldosterone functions as a regulator of sodium concentration within blood stream since the adrenal glands produce it. Aldosterone signals through a biological message to the kidneys for sodium depletion when blood sodium levels reach high levels.

Blame The Sugar And Hyperinsulinemia For Hypertension, Not The Salt!

Insulin resistance – High blood pressure connection :

It is exceptionally critical for the body to keep your Blood pressure normal. The body do this by a process called RAAS. RAAS is also known as the “Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System”. It’s basically a bunch of hormones & enzymes work together to control your blood pressure.

What it basically does is detect the changes in Blood Pressure & make alterations to keep the balance. The 3 components of this framework are Renin, Angiotensin-II & Aldosterone (also known as RAAS).

Renin is an enzyme secreted by the kidneys that detects the alteration in Blood pressure. Renin stimulates a hormone called Angiotensin-II, and Angiotensin-II powers the blood vessels to choke, subsequently expanding the Blood Pressure. Angiotensin-II also fortifies the adrenal organs to stimulate another hormone called Aldosterone. Aldosterone is in charge of controlling the total water the kidneys hold. That is done by controlling the minerals/Electrolytes.

When Aldosterone is actuated, it stimulates Sodium maintenance & Potassium excretion. Where Sodium goes, Water takes after. This enhanced water in the blood & subsequently the blood volume.

The outcome will produce this effect if you place additional substances inside a stable space. Pressure increases as a result, and when your insulin levels skyrocket as in the case of Insulin resistance, it fortifies the production of Aldosterone and this entire process gets activated. So basically it is not a Sodium issue and the salt high blood pressure myth is totally wrong. Here it is more a case of overabundance of sodium retention because of Hyperinsulinemia.

A few of the commonly utilized blood pressure medications work by interfering with this system. ACE inhibitors type of medications (names end with -pril) interfere with the stimulation of Angiotensin-II by blocking the hormone ACE in charge of conversion.

Angiotensin II receptor blockers (names conclusion with -sartan) specifically block the impact of Angiotensin II. Diuretic medications make a difference by help get rid of Sodium and so reducing the Blood volume. There are conceivably other processes by which Insulin Resistance impacts hypertension, but this is the major one. And this is not the one and only reason behind high blood pressure. This is without question a major one though.

Hypertension is not something to be taken lightly. Do not get off from medications without Specialists advice! Make the way of life changes, let blood pressure improve positively, then let the Specialist take it off.

🔵 Straightforward Version:
More Refined carbs/sugar = More Insulin = More Sodium held by the body = Increased Blood Pressure.

Hope now you understand about the salt high blood pressure myth.

What You Need To Do To Reduce Your High Blood Pressure

• If you truly want to reduce your blood pressure and keep it in the normal range, you should avoid Processed foods (packaged snacks, sugary drinks, ready-to-eat meals, canned foods, breakfast cereals), margarine, energy & fizzy drinks, refined carbs (white flour, refined/white sugar, white rice, snack foods).
• Start doing exercise and light cardio such as Brisk walking.
• Engage yourself in Intermittent fasting (16/8).
• Supplement yourself with Potassium, magnesium, and Vitamin D.
• Manage your stress levels.
• Prioritize 7-hrs high-quality sleep (Inositol and L-theanine can help).

Conclusion

The main cause behind high blood pressure is not salt because you understand the situation better now about salt high blood pressure myth. Both your body function and your existence depend on the intake of salt. Your body together with its organs (liver, kidney, heart, brain, muscles, and skin) depends on salt for regular operation. More elements exist in this situation than the basic connection which many individuals create between salt consumption and increased blood pressure readings. Celtic Sea Salt and Pink Himalayan Salt represent the types of salt which I recommend.

The role that salt plays in daily life is essential to human health. Many patients receive doctor recommendations against consuming salt. Doctors choose to provide medications while their patients fail to solve dietary problems. Medical professionals continue to treat hypertension by permitting patients to maintain salt consumption without adverse effects. People need to discard the incorrect connection between salt intake and blood pressure elevation.

What reasonable methods exist to take charge of your heart wellbeing? A healthy lifestyle promotion for the heart incorporates nutrition together with exercise with stress management and general well-being and regular medical assessment.

Switching to potassium-rich foods together with healthy fats as well as antioxidants creates two lasting benefits for your blood pressure while establishing healthy conditions for your heart and blood vessels. Personally evaluating your body health belongs to this process. Are you salt-sensitive?

Other vital nutrients such as sugar and seed oils required attention during your dietary plan. Patient health benefits from establishing a diet plan by evaluating all vital factors which results in a sustainable heart-friendly program. Now you have a clear understanding of the false connection about salt high blood pressure myth.

Your diet must contain these supplements if you want to improve your high blood pressure :

FAQs