Salt High Blood Pressure Myth

Salt High Blood Pressure Myth: Facts Vs Fiction

Imagine sitting in your doctor’s office, hearing those dreaded words: “Your blood pressure is too high sir”. Your heart sinks. The immediate advice? “Cut out salt completely.”

For years, we have been lead to believe about salt high blood pressure myth go hand and 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?

We also heard the warnings: consumption of too much salt will shoot up your blood pressure, resulting in heart disease & stroke. 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 salt been blamed for high blood pressure for so long? To find out, we need to go back in time and see how this salt-high blood pressure myth started in public health and nutritional science.

It all started in the mid-20th century when researchers noticed that reducing sodium seemed to lower blood pressure in some people. In the 1940s, Dr. Walter Kempner conducted a tiny study where a small number of participants with severe hypertension saw their blood pressure reduce by sticking to an extremely low salt diet. That study labeled sodium as the main culprit of heart disease and high blood pressure.

Then Dr. Lewis Dahl’s 1960s experiments became the basis for salt restriction recommendations. By showing that certain rat populations developed hypertension on high salt diets he inadvertently launched a global sodium reduction movement. But here’s the thing: what worked in lab rats didn’t translate perfectly to human populations. Individual genetic variations, lifestyle factors, and metabolic differences mean salt’s effect is far more complicated than these studies suggested.

Borrowing from these studies, governments and health organizations by the 1970s had bought into this narrative meaning sodium reduction was the way to go in the prevention of increased rates of cardiovascular diseases. Dietary guidelines started to recommend daily sodium limits and salt became the first advice for hypertension. This tag was also supported by public health organizations, food labeling, and dietary trends. The idea that low-salt/sodium foods equated to healthy food meant that people could consume purified, processed foods with convenient packaging but lacked valuable nutrients.

But were these early studies comprehensive enough?

What They Missed

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

Genetic Variability: Not everyone responds to salt the same way. 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: Stress, physical activity, and overall diet quality play a big role in blood pressure regulation but were not fully considered in many early studies.

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

High blood pressure or hypertension is also known as a “silent killer.” This is because it generally has no symptoms but can lead to serious health problems, including heart attack and stroke.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly half of the adults in the United States have high blood pressure and most doctors blame salt for this high blood pressure.

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. It means that countries eating a very high salt diet tend to have less heart disease.

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. This means they are saying that you should not eat 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 analyzed that the ones that eat the least salt tend to have the highest risk of death and the 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 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 review and scientific studies challenged this old false belief. A long detailed review published in the European Heart Journal in 2020 analyzed data from over 85000 people and found that there is no link between salt intake and cardiovascular diseases or high blood pressure.

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.
• Countries that eat more salt also have higher life expectancy.

2. Genetics and Lifestyle Matter More

• 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)
• Too high (Known as Hypernatremia)

How Your Body Really Handles Excess Salt

• Excess sodium is removed by the kidneys through filtration. It is excreted in urine to keep the body’s electrolyte balance.
• Your body also expels excess sodium through sweating.
• The adrenal glands secrete a hormone called Aldosterone which regulates sodium levels in the blood. If sodium levels are high, aldosterone signals the kidneys to excrete more sodium.

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 does this through a process called RAAS. RAAS is also known as the “Renin Angiotensin Aldosterone System”. It is fundamentally a bunch of Hormones/Enzymes working together to control your blood pressure/hypertension.

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.

This is what happens when you pack more substances into the same 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.

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 Potassium, magnesium, and Vitamin D.
• Manage your stress levels.
• Prioritize high-quality sleep.

Conclusion

Hope you understand now that salt is not the culprit. It is very important for your body & your life. Your body and organs (liver, kidney, heart, brain, muscles, and skin) need salt to function properly. As we have seen, there is more to the story than the simple association most people have between salt and high blood pressure. The type of salt that I recommend you are ‘Celtic Sea Salt” and “Pink Himalayan Salt“.

Salt plays a very important role in your life. A lot of people are suggested not to eat salt by their doctors. They keep on adding drugs instead of fixing their diet. But there are a lot of people who still eat salt and reverse their hypertension. So people should not believe in this salt-high blood pressure myth anymore.

Well, how can you regain control of your heart health in a little more effective manner? This is all about the goal of promoting a healthy lifestyle for the heart and encompasses nutrition, exercise, stress, and general well-being as well as regular monitoring.

But by increasing potassium healthy foods, good fats, and antioxidants, you are not just improving your blood pressure, you are laying down the right foundation for your heart and blood vessels. It also involves knowing one’s own body. Are you salt-sensitive?

Did you need to pay attention to other nutrients such as sugar or seed oils? It’s only by taking all of these into consideration that you can have a healthy diet plan that will in the long run be effective and will not cause harm to your heart.
Hope you understand now about the salt high blood pressure myth.

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