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Increasing Calcium More Likely to Lower Blood Pressure Than Decreasing Sodium: Presented at HBPR

By Peggy Peck

WASHINGTON, DC -- October 12, 2003 -- A new analysis of data from a national nutrition study of more than 20,000 Americans indicates that mineral intake -- especially dietary calcium -- plays an important role in blood pressure control and "is actually more important than sodium intake," said senior investigator David A. McCarron, MD, department of nutrition, University of California, Davis, California.

Dr. McCarron presented his findings here September 25^th at the High Blood Pressure Research Council 57^th Annual Conference.

"In hypertension, we are always talking about what we need to take away from the diet," he said. "But, it appears that adding to the diet is probably more important."

When the diet is "balanced with no deficit in minerals, salt is not a problem," he said. "Salt becomes a problem when the diet is calcium deficient. Specifically, as calcium intake increases, blood pressure decreases."

Dr. McCarron and his colleagues used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) collected between 1980 and 2000. The selected sample size was 20,050 volunteers aged 20 to 74. In addition to blood pressure measurements, NHANES collects data from 24-hour dietary recall. Sodium, calcium and total mineral (calcium, magnesium and potassium) intake was divided into quartiles.

The analysis found no relationship between sodium intake and blood pressure in any quartile, he said. "High sodium intake was associated with high blood pressure only when diet quality was poor." Thus, "salt sensitivity is more likely to be a marker of poor diet than of a predisposition to hypertension," he said.

McCarron said the analysis suggests that "when treating high blood pressure we should be taking the same approach as the heart and cancer community -- tell patients what they can eat rather than what they can't eat."


[Study title: "Dietary Society Effects on Blood Pressure Are Dependent on Mineral Intake: Analysis of NHANESIII and IV Data". Abstract P182]

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