Can reducing salt intake lower the risk of developing a vascular disease?

In a study of more than three thousand people with slightly elevated blood pressure, Harvard researchers found that those who had significantly reduced their salt intake had a 25 percent lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease than did people who ate their usual diets. Their risk of death from heart disease and stroke was also cut by as much as 20 percent. Most people in the intervention arm of the studies lowered their sodium intake by 25 to 30 percent, according to Dr. Nancy Cook, Sc.D., of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, who conducted the study. “This was not salt restriction, it was salt reduction,” said Cook. “These people ate normal diets, but we taught them how to look out for hidden salt and avoid it. Americans consume much more sodium than is necessary, and it comes mostly from processed foods and the foods we eat in restaurants.” Thus, a 25 percent reduction in salt equals a 25 percent reduction in cardiovascular disease.

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