Cutting Salt Helps Blood Vessels Relax
A new study in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests the benefits of reducing salt may extend beyond heart health. Australian researchers examined 29 overweight and obese men and women with normal blood pressure. Participants were randomly assigned a low-salt diet or an American diet for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks, they switched to the other diet, followed by 2 weeks of no intervention. Findings revealed people on a low-salt diet had lower systolic blood pressure and improved flow-mediated dilation (FMD), which is blood vessels ability to relax; FoodNavigator investigates.
Salt is not part of a healthy diet. According to Dr. Fuhrman, salt increases the body’s excretion of calcium, leading to bone loss and osteoporosis. And salt is very dangerous for vegans and vegetarians. It boosts risk boosts their risk of hemorrhagic stroke risk.
But a different kind of salt was recently named healthy! Salt Lake City, Utah is the fittest city in the United States. Sorry, shameless tie-in!
Image credit: a shadow of my future self
