Sodium intake should be restricted to 100 mEq, that is, about 2.3 grams per day. Strict diets, however, are often cumbersome and seldom matched by rigorous compliance. We studied 291 patients on antihypertensive treatment, 240 of whom were instructed to avoid salty foods, such as cheese and cured meats, and to switch from regular bread to salt-free bread. The remaining 51 matched patients constituted a control group and received only generic dietary advice. Na[U]/24h, K[U]/24h, and office BP (automated repeated measurements) were recorded before dieting started and after 9 ± 1 weeks of dieting. Our intervention group showed a significant decrease in body weight (71.75 ± 14.0 to 70.54 ± 13.33 kg, P < .0001), sodium excretion (153.1 ± 44.61 to 133.5 ± 37.1 mEq/24h, P < .05), systolic and diastolic BP (134.16 ± 16.0 to 126.5 ± 10.53 mm Hg, P = .014 and 80.59 ± 11.47 to 75.9 ± 8.72 mm Hg, P = .026, respectively), and drug consumption (1.71 ± 0.91 to 1.49 ± 0.84 DDD, P < .05). The rate of responders to antihypertensive therapy increased (51.4% to 79.5%). In the control group neither significant nor substantial changes were seen. Our data suggest that even a minimal reduction in the apparent sodium intake (∼0.5 grams per day) can improve both BP values and responder rates in treated hypertensive patients, while reducing the consumption of antihypertensive drugs.

钠摄入量应限制在100 mEq，即每天约2.3克。但是，严格的饮食通常很麻烦，很少有严格的依从性。我们对291名接受降压治疗的患者进行了研究，其中240名患者被指示避免食用咸味食物（例如奶酪和腌制肉类），并从普通面包换成无盐面包。其余51名匹配的患者组成对照组，仅接受一般饮食建议。在节食开始前和节食9±1周后，记录Na [U] / 24h，K [U] / 24h和办公室BP（自动重复测量）。我们的干预组显示体重（71.75±14.0至70.54±13.33 kg，P  <.0001）显着降低，钠排泄（153.1±44.61至133.5±37.1 mEq / 24h，P <.05），收缩压和舒张压（134.16±16.0至126.5±10.53 mm Hg，P  = .014和80.59±11.47至75.9±8.72 mm Hg，P  = .026）和药物消耗（1.71±0.91）至1.49±0.84 DDD，P  <.05）。降压治疗的反应率增加（51.4％至79.5％）。在对照组中，未见明显或实质性变化。我们的数据表明，即使表观钠摄入量的最小减少（每天约0.5克）也可以改善已治疗的高血压患者的BP值和缓解率，同时减少了降压药的消耗。