Salt

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Minerals Worth Their Salt to Curb Hypertension

September 25, 2003 11:03:51 AM PDT , HealthDay

By Adam Marcus

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Sept. 25 (HealthDayNews) --If you're like many Americans, you

scour food labels for the sodium content of what lies beneath.

Researchers now say it's time to broaden your search.

A new study finds that while salt may boost blood pressure, this effect

appears to be worsened by meager intake of calcium, potassium, magnesium and

other beneficial nutrients.

The researchers looked at diet and high blood pressure in tens of thousands

of Americans participating in a series of national health and nutrition

surveys between 1980 and 2000.

In the surveys, sodium intake didn't have a major impact on blood pressure

--though calcium consumption drove it down. People who reported eating more

calcium, potassium and magnesium tended to have lower blood pressure than

those who ate less of these nutrients.

When salt does have an impact on blood pressure, the researchers say, it

appears to reflect poor intake of the other nutrients.

The findings were reported Sept. 25 at a meeting of the American Heart

Association in Washington, D.C.

Dr. , dean of the School of Medicine at the University of

Mississippi and a spokesman for the American Heart Association, says more

convincing evidence in other studies points to a stronger effect of salt on

blood pressure. " The best data available from clinical trials simply tells

us something different, " says. " This shouldn't sway medical practice. "

A quarter of all American adults, and two-thirds of those over age 65, have

high blood pressure -- considered a reading of at least 140/90 millimeters

of mercury. Elevated pressure is linked to strokes, heart attacks, kidney

failure and a host of other serious health problems.

Obesity, stress, alcohol abuse and lack of exercise each raises the risk of

high blood pressure. Heavy salt intake also is linked to the condition,

though the effect appears to be greater in certain people with a genetic

susceptibility to salt.

Most, a dietitian at Louisiana State University's Pennington

Biomedical Research Center has studied the impact of nutrition on blood

pressure. The latest work, Most says, mirrors what she and colleagues have

found in previous research.

One such study compared the effects on blood pressure of different diets

with varying amounts of salt. It found that while reducing sodium intake did

seem to lower blood pressure, increased consumption of potassium, calcium

and magnesium did, too.

" It seems to be the combination of those nutrients, working in concert, "

that keeps blood pressure in check, Most says. " My feeling is that there

might be other things in food that we don't know about " that also control

pressure -- unstudied chemicals in vegetables, for example.

So why not load up on diet supplements to drive down blood pressure? " It won

t work, " Most says. " You need this multitude of minerals or perhaps these

other components from food " to get the effect.

To get these nutrients in your diet, load up on fruits and vegetables. Milk

and other dairy products are excellent sources of calcium.

The National Institutes of Health recommends people eat a maximum of 2,400

milligrams of salt a day, or about two teaspoon's worth. Ideally, experts say,

salt intake should be about 1,500 milligrams a day, or about two-thirds of a

teaspoon.