Sodium and High Blood Pressure

From: NHLBI Network
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2000 3:49 PM
To: NHLBI Network
Subject: Holding the Sodium Can Take Off the Pressure

High blood pressure is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. A recent NHLBI-sponsored clinical study showed that showed that blood pressure can be lowered significantly by reducing dietary sodium.

The study, called the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension - Sodium (Dash-Sodium) Study, showed significant blood pressure reduction as a result of sodium reduction in all study participants - those with and without high blood pressure. Moreover, the study results showed that people following a lower sodium diet that was also rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products (the DASH diet) achieved the greatest blood pressure reductions.

For more on information on this study, visit:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/new/press/may17-00.htm.

To see how this research can be put into practice, see NHLBI’s useful tips on cutting down sodium intake at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hbp/consumer/hearthealth/eating_tips.html.

For a downloadable overview of the DASH diet (PDF file) by NHLBI, go to: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/index.htm or http://dash.bwh.harvard.edu.

To view a sample DASH eating plan, visit: http://dash.bwh.harvard.edu/dashdietservings.html

Copies of NHLBI publications could be ordered through the Online Catalog (http://emall.nhlbihin.net).