You probably have heard before that sodium increases blood pressure and hence you should avoid consuming foods with high sodium content. That statement by itself is false! It should read: ”If you have kidney problems, high sodium intake will lead to an increase in blood pressure”.

High sodium levels can only increase blood pressure if your kidneys are not working properly. In other words, if you are a healthy individual (kidneys are ok), lowering your sodium intake will have no effect on your blood pressure. In fact, if you have perfect functioning kidneys, you can consume lots of sodium and it will not increase blood pressure. But someone who has elevated blood pressure can lower their blood pressure if they consume less than 2,100mg of sodium a day.

So why is sodium associated with causing high blood pressure?

Anywhere sodium goes in the body, water follows because sodium & water are attracted to each other like a magnet. When the sodium content in your blood goes down, blood volume and blood pressure decrease as well. When that happens, baroreceptors (sense pressure) and osmoreceptors (sense fluid levels) in your kidneys and brain will sense lower blood pressure and the body reacts to it by activating mechanisms that will increase blood pressure. Therefore, sodium is associated with high blood pressure.

What has not been established yet is if high sodium diets will decrease sensitivity to sodium.