Salt-Blood Pressure Connection: The Origin of the Belief
The first recorded description that salt affects blood pressure apparently comes from Chinese literature. Emperor Huang Ti said, “if too much salt is used in food, the pulse hardens.”
In 1904, French scientists Ambard and Beaujard proposed that salt caused hypertension. The theory went on to be called the Salt-Blood Pressure Hypothesis.
So does salt affect your blood pressure?
The short answer is yes. There is a longer nuanced answer.
Let us first understand the role of sodium in our body. In my book, I spoke about the sodium-potassium pump in your body.
Every cell has sodium ions inside and potassium ions outside. The electrical charge of these ions naturally attracts each other. The attraction causes potassium to rush into your cell and sodium to rush out, creating a natural flow.
The flow is critical to your survival as it occurs with no energy being used.
The cell uses the nutrients that came along with the potassium rushing in to kick start life.
But we are here to discuss the role of sodium on blood pressure.
If you consume too much sodium, there will be excess sodium in your body affecting the natural cycle through which sodium-potassium gets exchanged.
More importantly, your body will retain water to dilute the excess salt outside your cells. You will experience it as water retention.
The kidney will kick in to start excreting the excess sodium through urination.
This is the link to blood pressure.
Some people seem to be more effective at excreting the excess sodium. In such cases, there is a marginal effect on blood pressure.
Most people [see here] exhibit the inability to manage this process effectively. In such cases the blood pressure seems to rise.
We have seen the same thing in our practice. For most people with blood pressure, if you ask them to cut back on sodium, the pressure falls. For a select few, it does not seem to matter, especially if you are on a very low carb diet.
So what should you do?
Experiment for a few days and see how sodium affects your pressure.
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