Cutting Out This Much Salt Can Help Most People Lower Blood Pressure

Cutting out just one teaspoon of salt from your diet each day can significantly lower blood pressure as good as a first-line medication for hypertension, new research shows.

The news comes from a study published November 11 in JAMA, examining how dietary sodium intake impacts blood pressure in middle-aged and elderly adults, including those who don’t have high blood pressure and those already on antihypertensive medications.

“We found that 70–75% of all people, regardless of whether they are already on blood pressure medications or not, are likely to see a reduction in their blood pressure if they lower the sodium in their diet,” co-principal investigator Norrina Allen, PhD, the Quentin D. Young Professor of Health Policy in the Department of Preventive Medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said in a news release.

A single teaspoon of table salt has about 2,300 mg of sodium—the daily upper limit for sodium intake among people ages 14 and over, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. However, the average American consumes about 3,400 mg of sodium each day. The American Heart Association recommends a daily sodium intake much lower than both, at just 1,500 mg.

The new study was designed to decrease sodium levels even lower than the AHA-recommended 1,500 mg, which may be difficult for many, but even lowering sodium intake by a little bit is beneficial—particularly because high blood pressure is the leading cause of death worldwide, said Allen.

“High blood pressure can lead to heart failure, heart attacks, and strokes, because it puts extra pressure on your arteries,” said Allen. “It affects the heart’s ability to work effectively and pump blood.”

Read on to learn more about how reducing your salt intake can affect blood pressure—and how to easily remove some of the salt from your diet.

For the new study, researchers examined the impact of dietary sodium intake on blood pressure in middle-aged to elderly individuals. To do this, they evaluated 213 individuals ages 50 to 75, with a range of blood pressure statuses: normal blood pressure, controlled high blood pressure, uncontrolled high blood pressure, and untreated high blood pressure.

The participants completed one week each of high– and low–sodium diets. The high–sodium diets added an extra 2,200 mg of sodium to their usual diets (just under one teaspoon); a low–sodium diet had approximately 500 mg of sodium, total.

Overall, low-sodium diets led to a reduction in systolic blood pressure (the top, or first number), compared to participants’ usual and high-sodium diets.

More specifically, participants’ systolic blood pressure was lowered by 7–8 mm Hg when they ate a low-sodium diet compared to a high-sodium diet; meanwhile, their systolic blood pressure was lowered by 6 mm Hg on a low-sodium diet compared to their usual diet.

The blood pressure reduction of around 6 mm Hg “is comparable to the effect produced by a commonly utilized first-line medication for high blood pressure,” co-principal investigator Deepak Gupta, MD, MSCI, associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said in a news release.

People who were on blood pressure medication still benefitted from the dietary sodium reduction, highlighting that dietary changes don’t just impact people who are not taking medication. Hypertension status didn’t impact these positive effects either.

Developing high blood pressure can be a result of many factors, with some being completely out of your control (like your genetics). But among the factors that you can modify, diet is one that may have an especially profound impact on your blood pressure. 

For many people with high blood pressure, healthcare providers may suggest the DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It’s an eating plan made specifically to help manage hypertension by encouraging consumption of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy, while limiting the intake of foods high in saturated fat and sugar.

Limiting processed and ultra-processed foods is a big part of the equation, according to Raghav Sharma, MD, a cardiologist and founder of Heartwell Cardiology. “Most of the sodium that the general public consumes is not necessarily added to the food at the time of consumption,” he said, adding that cutting back on ultra-processed foods can help reduce sodium intake.

But reducing salt doesn’t necessarily mean you need to eat bland food, said Toby Amidor, MS, RD, author and founder of Toby Amidor Nutrition, PC. “There are so many ways to add flavor to food that don’t involve salt,” she said, suggesting:

• Using fresh herbs (basil, thyme, cilantro)
• Using spices (cinnamon, chili powder, cumin)
• Using juices to add flavor (100% pomegranate, orange, or pineapple juice)
• Making your own stock, or buying no-sodium-added stocks

For more tips on how to reduce your sodium intake and lower your blood pressure in the process, speak with a healthcare provider or a registered dietitian.