By: Thomas Pickering, MD, DPhil, FRCP, Director of Integrative and Behavioral Cardiology Program
of the Cardiovascular Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.

A publication from the Nurses' Health Study, a prospective survey of 41,000 US nurses who kept food records, provides some interesting new information about the effects of diet on blood pressure. Over a four-year period, 2,526 women reported that they were diagnosed as having developed hypertension. Three factors distinguished these women from the others: age, body weight and alcohol intake. Salt consumption did not predict future hypertension, but there was a tendency for women who ate more fiber and magnesium to have slightly lower pressures.

Doctor's comments

Many people think that salt intake is the most important dietary factor in determining their blood pressure. This is one of several studies that has shown that the two most important factors are calories and alcohol. The lesser effects of fiber and magnesium suggest that a diet high in fruits and vegetables is also beneficial.

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