New research reveals that replacing regular salt with a salt substitute can lower the risk of hypertension by 40% in older adults without increasing low blood pressure risks. Conducted among elderly residents in China, the findings highlight the efficacy of salt substitutes in managing blood pressure and suggest broader adoption in food processing to combat global hypertension challenges.
One of the most effective ways to reduce hypertension risk is to reduce sodium intake. This study looks at salt substitutes as a better solution to control and maintain healthy blood pressure than reducing salt alone.“Adults frequently fall into the trap of consuming excess salt through easily accessible and budget-friendly processed foods,” said Yangfeng Wu, MD, PhD, lead author of the study and Executive Director of Peking University Clinical Research Institute in Beijing, China.
Limitations of the study include that it is a post-hoc analysis, study outcomes were not pre-specified and there was a loss of follow-up visits in many patients. Analyses indicated that these missing values were at random, and multiple sensitivity analyses supports the robustness of the results.