A healthy diet may not offset (抵消) the effects of a high salt intake on blood pressure, suggests a new study. The research, from scientists at a number of institutions, studied the diets of over 4,000 people. The results showed that people eating higher amounts of salt had higher blood pressure — no matter how healthy a person's overall diet.
The scientists behind the research are now advising people to monitor their salt intake-and food companies to lower the salt content in their products.
High blood pressure affects more than one in four adults in the UK, and increases the risk of a number of conditions including heart attacks and stroke. It's thought that vitamins and minerals in fruit and vegetables might in some way affect blood vessels (血管), enabling them to lower blood pressure. Previously, experts believed that eating high amounts of fruit and vegetables might help offset the effects of high salt on blood pressure. However, while these foods do tend to lower blood pressure, the new research suggests they do not offset the adverse influence of high salt intake.
In the paper, the team studied data from the so-called INTERMAP study. In this study published in 2018，scientists tracked the diets of 4, 680 people, aged 40-59, from the USA, the UK, Japan and China. The researchers found a link between high blood pressure and high salt intake, even in people who were on a healthy diet.
The recommended upper limit of adult salt intake in the UK is 6 g a day. The study found that the average salt intake across the study was 10.7 g a day. The average intake for the UK was 8.5 g while the intake for the USA, China and Japan were9.6g, 13.1 g and 11.7 g respectively.
Increasing salt intake above this average amount was linked 10 an increase in blood pressure. Dr Queenie Chan, joint lead author of the research, said the research shows the importance o cutting salt intake.
A. The US
