People who eat more salt before starting the DASH diet see their blood pressure drop more than those who already eat less salt. This suggests that cutting back on sodium works best when combined with the DASH eating plan.

Eating a DASH diet and reducing salt intake lowers average blood pressure in people with high blood pressure, but does not change how much blood pressure fluctuates from moment to moment.

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.

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.

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).

People with very high blood pressure at the start of a low-sodium DASH diet see a bigger drop in their numbers compared to those with milder high blood pressure. This means the diet works especially well for severe cases and might help some patients need fewer blood pressure medications.