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Small Amounts of Inorganic Nitrate or Beetroot Provide Substantial Protection From Salt-Induced Increases in Blood Pressure.

ABSTRACT: To reduce the risk of salt-induced hypertension, medical authorities have emphasized dietary guidelines promoting high intakes of potassium and low intakes of salt that provide molar ratios of potassium to salt of ?1:1. However, during the past several decades, relatively few people have changed their eating habits sufficiently to reach the recommended dietary goals for salt and potassium. Thus, new strategies that reduce the risk of salt-induced hypertension without requiring major changes in dietary habits would be of considerable medical interest. In the current studies in a widely used model of salt-induced hypertension, the Dahl salt-sensitive rat, we found that supplemental dietary sodium nitrate confers substantial protection from initiation of salt-induced hypertension when the molar ratio of added nitrate to added salt is only ?1:170. Provision of a low molar ratio of added nitrate to added salt of ?1:110 by supplementing the diet with beetroot also conferred substantial protection against salt-induced increases in blood pressure. The results suggest that on a molar basis and a weight basis, dietary nitrate may be ?100× more potent than dietary potassium with respect to providing substantial resistance to the pressor effects of increased salt intake. Given that leafy green and root vegetables contain large amounts of inorganic nitrate, these findings raise the possibility that fortification of salty food products with small amounts of a nitrate-rich vegetable concentrate may provide a simple method for reducing risk for salt-induced hypertension.

SUBMITTER: Morris RC

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6458074 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Small Amounts of Inorganic Nitrate or Beetroot Provide Substantial Protection From Salt-Induced Increases in Blood Pressure.

Morris R Curtis RC Pravenec Michal M Šilhavý Jan J DiCarlo Stephen E SE Kurtz Theodore W TW

Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979) 20190501 5

To reduce the risk of salt-induced hypertension, medical authorities have emphasized dietary guidelines promoting high intakes of potassium and low intakes of salt that provide molar ratios of potassium to salt of ≥1:1. However, during the past several decades, relatively few people have changed their eating habits sufficiently to reach the recommended dietary goals for salt and potassium. Thus, new strategies that reduce the risk of salt-induced hypertension without requiring major changes in d ...[more]

PMID: 30917704

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Project description:BackgroundIn Sub-Saharan Africa, current strategies are struggling to control the burgeoning hypertension epidemic. Dietary interventions such as inorganic nitrate or folic acid supplementation could represent promising strategies for reducing blood pressure (BP) in this setting.ObjectivesThis feasibility study explores the effects of dietary inorganic nitrate supplementation, alone or in combination with folic acid, on BP in Tanzanian adults with elevated BP in Tanzania.MethodsA placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized controlled feasibility trial was conducted. Forty-seven middle-aged and older participants (age: 50-70 y, BMI: 26.3-29.1 kg/m2) were randomly assigned to 3 conditions for a period of 60 d: 1) high-nitrate beetroot juice (∼400 mg nitrate) and folic acid (∼5 mg folic acid) (N + F), 2) high-nitrate beetroot juice and placebo (N + P), or 3) nitrate-depleted beetroot juice and placebo (P + P). Clinic and 24-h ambulatory BP and measurements of compliance in plasma (nitrate and folate concentrations) and saliva (nitrate and nitrite) were obtained at baseline, 30 d, and 60 d.ResultsBaseline resting systolic and diastolic BP (mean ± SD) was 151.0 ± 19.4 mm Hg and 91.8 ± 11.7 mm Hg, respectively. Compliance to the interventions was high (>90%) in all groups which was confirmed by the significant increase in nitrate and folic acid concentrations in plasma and saliva samples in the treatment arms. After 60 d, 24-h systolic BP dropped by -10.8 ± 9.8 mm Hg (P < 0.001), -6.1 ± 13.2 mm Hg (P = 0.03), and -0.3 ± 9.7 mm Hg (P = 0.83) in the N + P, N + F, and P + P groups, respectively. There was a significant decrease in 24-h diastolic BP in the N + P group (-5.4 ± 5.0 mm Hg, P = 0.004), whereas changes were not significant in the N + F (-1.8 ± 8.1 mm Hg, P = 0.32) and P + P (1.6 ± 8.3 mm Hg, P = 0.43) groups.ConclusionsDietary inorganic nitrate represents a potential nutritional strategy to lessen the hypertension epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. These findings support the rationale for future long-term investigations exploring the efficacy of dietary nitrate for lowering BP and attenuating cardiovascular disease risk in this setting.This trial was registered at isrctn.com as ISRCTN67978523.

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Small Amounts of Inorganic Nitrate or Beetroot Provide Substantial Protection From Salt-Induced Increases in Blood Pressure.

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Small Amounts of Inorganic Nitrate or Beetroot Provide Substantial Protection From Salt-Induced Increases in Blood Pressure.

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