Low sodium helps regulate blood pressure and reduce the risk of stroke and heart disease

According to Xinhua News Agency in Sydney, an international study involving researchers from Australia and other countries showed that low-sodium salt can help consumers reduce the risk of stroke or heart disease. The research results were recently published in the British Medical Journal Open Edition Heart.

Researchers from the George Institute for Global Health at the University of New South Wales in Australia and other institutions analyzed data from a number of low-sodium salt studies conducted in Europe, Asia and America, including 19 studies on the effects of low-sodium salt on blood pressure and five studies on the effects of low-sodium salt on disease incidence. The total number of participants in the studies exceeded 30,000, mainly patients with hypertension. The proportion of sodium chloride in low-sodium salt ranges from 33% to 75%.

The results showed that people who had long-term consumption of low-sodium salt had their blood pressure under control, with systolic blood pressure dropping by 4.61 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure dropping by 1.61 mmHg. For every 10% reduction in the proportion of sodium chloride in low-sodium salt, the systolic blood pressure of the consumer would drop by 1.53 mmHg and the diastolic blood pressure would drop by 0.95 mmHg. Low-sodium salt can reduce the risk of premature death from any cause by 11%, the incidence of heart disease or stroke by 11%, and the incidence of cardiovascular disease by 13%.

Bruce Neil, executive director of the George Institute for Global Health and professor of medicine at the University of New South Wales, told Xinhua that consuming salt with a high sodium content can easily lead to high blood pressure, which is the main cause of heart disease and stroke. This study shows that low-sodium salt can help lower blood pressure, thereby reducing the risk of stroke and heart disease.