Are you a heavy salt eater? Experts warn that eating too much salt over time may affect the lining of blood vessels, increasing the likelihood of developing high blood pressure.
Health experts had continued to urge individuals to reduce their table salt consumption to avoid hypertension, which can contribute to heart failure, stroke, kidney failure and even premature death. The decision to caution on intakes of too much salt because of its connection with hypertension came initially from two pieces of research.
One was the observation that populations that ate little salt had virtually no hypertension. The second was a strain of “salt-sensitive” rats that reliably developed hypertension on a high-salt diet.
Indeed, it has become conventional wisdom to fight hypertension by reducing salt consumption as corroborated by studies like the 2001 DASH-Sodium trial. This trial also suggested cutting back on salt to lower blood pressure.
But why are people who eat a high-salt diet more likely to develop hypertension, or high blood pressure? Well, researchers in a new study in the journal, Circulation, hinted that eating a high-salt diet for several years might damage blood vessels, stiffening it and so leading to high blood pressure and other dangers.
Meanwhile, in the prevention of high blood pressure, it is also important to avoid smoking, maintain healthy weight and keep cholesterol level down aside avoidance of a high-salt diet.
