How to eat for hypertensive patients?

I am hypertensive, and doctors advise me to stop adding salt to my food. A lot of salt, of course, is harmful, but what if you eat it in moderation?

Olga, Uglich

Irina Samorodskaya , Doctor of Medical Sciences, Chief Researcher of the Scientific Center for Cardiovascular Surgery named after. A. N. Bakuleva RAMS:

– Recommendations from cardiologists in almost all countries of the world contain universal advice: people with arterial hypertension and heart failure need to reduce their daily intake of sodium, contained mainly in table salt. However, several randomized studies have shown that severely reducing sodium intake can lead to increased levels of renin and aldosterone (substances that regulate blood pressure), and increased cholesterol and triglyceride levels in the blood.

Thus, the effects of sodium reduction are ambiguous and cannot yet be accurately predicted. Based on an analysis of 23 studies, conflicting results were identified. Sodium intakes of less than 4.5 g/day were associated with fewer cardiovascular complications and deaths than intakes of more than 4.5 g/day. However, among people with heart failure who consumed up to 1.8 g of sodium, both mortality and complications were significantly higher than among those who consumed an average of 2.8 g per day.

Another study found that survival was better among men consuming an average of 3.8 grams of sodium per day than among those consuming 5.3 grams per day. Thus, cardiovascular morbidity and mortality are higher among those consuming less than 2.5 grams and more than 6 grams of sodium daily.