Impact of Diet on Blood Pressure and Age-Related Changes in Blood Pressure in the US Population

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Abstract
RESULTS OF the recently reported Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) trial document the effects of overall dietary patterns on blood pressure levels.1 Although many specific dietary factors have been linked with changes in blood pressure, relatively strong evidence exists for only a few of them. Higher blood pressure levels have been associated with high intakes of alcohol, sodium, and protein and low intakes of potassium, calcium, and magnesium.2-11 The effects of these nutrients on blood pressure are more apparent in studies among several populations, as it is difficult to consistently detect the impact of specific dietary factors on blood pressure or age-related changes in blood pressure within one population. For example, although a relationship between sodium consumption and blood pressure has been demonstrated in across-population studies, at the time this article was written, this was not the case in within-population studies. An analysis of the first National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) data concluded that a high sodium intake was associated with lower blood pressure.4 The difficulty of accurately measuring nutrient intakes and their limited range within a single population contribute to the difficulty of assessing the relationship between specific dietary factors and blood pressure within a population11,12