How eating less salt and more fruits/veggies can drop your blood pressure
Effects of Sodium Reduction and the DASH Diet in Relation to Baseline Blood Pressure.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
The DASH diet’s blood pressure-lowering effect was strongest when sodium intake was high, not low.
Most people assume the DASH diet works best when paired with low salt—but this study shows it’s most effective when salt is still high, suggesting salt may be needed to 'unlock' DASH’s full potential.
Practical Takeaways
If your systolic BP is 140 or higher, try cutting salt to 1,150 mg/day (no processed food, no added salt) and add 4–5 servings of fruits/veggies and 2–3 servings of low-fat dairy daily.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
The DASH diet’s blood pressure-lowering effect was strongest when sodium intake was high, not low.
Most people assume the DASH diet works best when paired with low salt—but this study shows it’s most effective when salt is still high, suggesting salt may be needed to 'unlock' DASH’s full potential.
Practical Takeaways
If your systolic BP is 140 or higher, try cutting salt to 1,150 mg/day (no processed food, no added salt) and add 4–5 servings of fruits/veggies and 2–3 servings of low-fat dairy daily.
Publication
Journal
Journal of the American College of Cardiology
Year
2017
Authors
S. Juraschek, E. Miller, C. Weaver, L. Appel
Related Content
Claims (6)
Cutting down on salt can lower your blood pressure, and the more salt you cut, the more your blood pressure drops—especially if it was already high to begin with.
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.
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 cut down on salt from a lot to very little, your top blood pressure number might drop by about 7 to 9 points — and the higher your blood pressure was to start with, the more it drops.
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).