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Salt intake recommendations “pointless” in many countries

Sweeping recommendations for daily sodium limits are probably pointless in many parts of the world, according to data from the largest ever study on sodium intake and blood pressure.

Results from the PURE trial– involving over 100,000 people from 10 countries – were presented at the European Society of Cardiology 2013 congress this weekend. In line with previous studies, the investigators found a linear relationship between BP and sodium levels, with both rising in parallel with one another. Potassium showed the inverse.

But critically, when the group looked at systolic blood pressure changes in response to 1g increases in sodium consumption, they found that response to sodium was important only in certain groups: people with hypertension, the elderly, and people consuming more than 5 g/day of sodium. Although intake came up to 4.8 g/day in Europe, only in China did it exceed 5 g/day.

Click here and follow the link for the abstract of the PURE study.