Lower your sodium intake for better BP, suggests study

Italy: Reducing dietary sodium consumption by any amount can lower blood pressure over the long term and is beneficial for everyone including those with normal blood pressure, suggests a recent research. The results from the new meta-analysis, published in the journal Circulation, were confined to experimental studies. 

This dose-response analysis of sodium reduction in clinical trials found an approximately liner relationship between sodium intake and reduction in both diastolic and systolic BP across the entire range of dietary sodium exposure. The effect of sodium reduction, although independent of the baseline BP, was more pronounced in people with a higher BP.

Clinical trials and non-experimental human studies have indicated a direct relationship between dietary sodium intake and blood pressure. However, due to the lack of random-effects dose-response statistical models than can include 2-arm comparisons, the exact shape of dose-response relationship has been difficult to assess in clinical trials.

Considering this, Marco Vinceti, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy, and colleagues, performed a comprehensive literature search for experimental studies that investigated the BP effects of changes in dietary sodium intake. Following which, they conducted a dose-response meta-analysis using the new 1-stage cubic spline mixed-effects model. The study included trials with at least 4-weeks of follow-up; 24 h urinary sodium excretion measurements; sodium manipulation through dietary change or supplementation, or both; and measurement of systolic and diastolic BP at the beginning and end of the treatment.