Patients with hypertension need to limit salt intake, so the lighter the food, the better?

Popular saying: Patients with high blood pressure should eat less salt, so the lighter the food, the better, and it is best not to add any salt to the food.

Fake rumors

Verification points:

1 In my country, the average person consumes about 10-15 grams of salt per day, which will increase blood pressure and make it difficult to control for patients with hypertension. Therefore, the World Health Organization and my country's National Health Commission both recommend that patients with hypertension should limit their salt intake to no more than 5 grams per person per day.

2 Salt is very important to the human body. It not only plays an important role in maintaining osmotic pressure, but chloride ions also participate in the production of gastric acid. You can't just stop eating it if you want to. It's an overreaction to completely stop eating salt for the sake of health.

Verified by: Zhang Haicheng, Chief Physician, Department of Cardiology, Peking University People's Hospital

Time: 2021-11-22 Source: Tencent Check the original text

Recently, the media reported that an 82-year-old man in Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, almost did not add salt when cooking in order to control high blood pressure. After a period of time, he developed symptoms such as fatigue and drowsiness. After examination by a doctor, he was diagnosed with hyponatremia and needed to be hospitalized immediately.

Whenever I see such news, I always feel heartbroken, because such patients are not uncommon in clinical practice. They are often a group of people who pay special attention to their own health, are particularly self-disciplined, and like to listen to health lectures, making you feel embarrassed to criticize them.

After reading this news, some people may ask, if people with high blood pressure must limit their salt intake, will they still get sick if they eat less salt? Is salt so important to the human body? What exactly is hyponatremia?

1. Salt is very important to the human body and you can’t just choose not to eat it

The main component of table salt is sodium chloride. Chloride ions and sodium ions are both essential ions for the human body. They are essential in the heart, brain, muscles and even every cell in the body. The total amount of sodium ions contained in an adult's body is about 60 grams, of which about 80% exists in the extracellular fluid, that is, in the plasma and intercellular fluid.

Of the total amount of cations in the extracellular fluid, sodium ions account for more than 90%, and of the total amount of anions, chloride ions account for about 70%. Therefore, table salt plays an important role in maintaining osmotic pressure and participates in the regulation of acid-base balance in the body. Chloride ions are also involved in the production of gastric acid.

The human body generally needs 3-5 grams of salt per person per day. Due to different living habits and tastes, people's actual salt intake varies greatly from person to person and from place to place. In my country, the average person eats about 10-15 grams of salt per day, which will increase blood pressure and make it difficult to control for patients with hypertension. Therefore, the World Health Organization and my country's National Health Commission both recommend that patients with hypertension should limit their salt intake, preferably no more than 5 grams per person per day.

2. Acute hyponatremia can be life-threatening

The body's sodium intake and excretion should be in a balanced state. If the sodium intake is too little or the excretion is too much, blood tests are done to measure the serum sodium concentration.