- Excess salt consumption is a known risk factor for developing high blood pressure.
- New research shows swapping regular table salt for a salt substitute could help regulate blood pressure in older adults.
- Salt substitutes help minimize sodium intake while increasing potassium intake, both of which are associated with healthy blood pressure levels.
Overconsumption of salt is a global driver of cardiovascular disease and high blood pressure.
New research indicates that using salt substitutes — flavorful food additives with less sodium — instead of table salt could help reduce the risk of high blood pressure.
An article published February 12 in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, found that older adults with blood pressure above normal who used a salt substitute had lower incidences of developing high blood pressure. They also had lower blood pressure overall compared to those who used table salt.
Additionally, incidences of low blood pressure (
“This means the salt substitute is beneficial not only to people with hypertension, which has been demonstrated in previous studies, but also to people with normal blood pressure, and that it is safe,” Dr. Yangfeng Wu, Ph.D., executive director of Peking University Clinical Research Institute and senior author of the study, told Medical News Today.
The research comes out of the
Throughout the two-year trial, scientists wanted to see how different salt initiatives would affect participants’ blood pressure.
The 2×2 factorial design compared usual salt intake and progressively restricted salt intake to regular salt or a salt substitute.
Participants who received the salt substitute demonstrated improvements in blood…
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