Eating less salt and following the DASH diet together lowers blood pressure more than doing just one of them alone—and the biggest drop happens in people whose blood pressure is already really high (150 or above).

If you have slightly high blood pressure, eating less salt and following the DASH diet lowers both the top and bottom numbers of your blood pressure in about the same way — so both parts get better together.

If you have high blood pressure and eat a lot of salt, switching to the DASH diet can lower your blood pressure by up to 10.6 points—but if you’re already eating very little salt, the diet might not help as much. So, it works best when you’re still eating salty foods.

If you have high blood pressure and eat a diet low in salt plus lots of fruits, veggies, and low-fat dairy, your blood pressure can drop by about 21 points — as much as taking one blood pressure pill.

For people with mild high blood pressure, eating all meals within an 8-hour window while following the DASH diet lowers blood pressure more than just the DASH diet alone over six weeks.

Eating less salt and more potassium together lowers blood pressure better than just cutting salt or just adding potassium alone—and that’s why the DASH diet works so well.