News Release: Dietary Quality, not Dietary Salt, Most Responsible for Healthy Blood Presssure

Salt Institute Logo NEWS RELEASE

For Release:
January 4, 2001

DIETARY QUALITY, NOT DIETARY SALT,
MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR HEALTHY BLOOD PRESSURE

Washington, DC/Alexandria, VA – “Americans have new hope that a few simple, common-sense dietary changes can reduce their chances of a heart attack. The DASH-Sodium Study is a head-to-head comparison of the achievable DASH diet, rich in fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products, with the previously-recommended low-sodium diet which has proved so difficult for the public to adhere to. The good news is that the DASH Diet alone has now been proven more effective than salt reduction.”

That’s the upbeat assessment of the Salt Institute which has long maintained that dietary imbalances, particularly deficiency intake levels of such vital nutrients as potassium, calcium and magnesium, are largely responsible for the impact of dietary sodium on blood pressure.

“The new DASH-Sodium Study confirms that most of the blood pressure benefits of combining the DASH Diet with sodium reduction comes from the DASH Diet itself, not the amount of sodium in the diet. The DASH Diet is a realistic diet and appropriate for every American,” explained Salt Institute President Richard L. Hanneman.

“What the DASH-Sodium authors failed to highlight is the head-to-head comparison of these two strategies,” he continued. “Clearly, the DASH Diet does the most good. The group that benefits the most is the group that needs the most help – those with established high blood pressure. For this group, the DASH Diet, combined with sodium restriction to less than half the current intake level, reduced systolic blood pressure by 11.5 millimeters of mercury (this is the ‘top’ number in blood pressure readings and considered most important). In contrast, the original DASH Study, with normal sodium intake levels, reduced the systolic blood pressure of hypertensive participants by essentially the same amount –specifically, by 11.4 millimeters of mercury. For every subgroup, the DASH Diet provides 80 – 100 percent of the blood pressure benefit.”

The Salt Institute renewed its call for the federal government to redirect the focus of its nutrition program towards adding more fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products to the American diet and to reserve low-sodium dietary therapy for the relatively few patients whose blood pressure is not controlled by the DASH Diet. “Not only is the DASH Diet more achievable,” Hanneman emphasized, but it is totally consistent with our current dietary strategies to promote bone health, cholesterol reduction and colon cancer prevention.”