A diet poor in salt could lower blood pressure and significantly reduce the chances of developing cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Nancy Cook and colleagues at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School in Boston studied more than 3,000 people who took part in a study of a low-salt diet and its effects on high blood pressure.

The participants had completed two trials during the 1990s, conducted to analyze the effect that reducing salt in the diet had on blood pressure. They all had high-normal blood pressure (pre-hypertension) and were, as a result, at greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

the first Trial of Hypertension Prevention was completed in 1990, and included 744 persons. Another 2382 participated in the second trial, which ended in 1995. In both trials participants reduced their sodium intake by approximately 25% to 35% alongside a control group which didn’t cut back on salt intake.

The researchers found that the participants that had reduced sodium intake lowered their risk of total cardiovascular disease by 25%. This lower risk lasted 10 to 15 years, the authors reported last week in the online version of the medical journal BMJ. There was also a 20% lower mortality rate.

This research provides some of the strongest objective evidence to date that lowering the amount of salt in the diet reduces the long term risk of future cardiovascular disease, say the authors of the report.

It was only a month ago that Great Britain’s Food Standards Agency issued a warning for the general public, urging consumers to check the labels on the food products they buy. The government agency said salt can be found in unexpected food products, especially in readymade foods like pizza, sandwiches, pasta sauce and ready meals.

According to the agency, salt consumption has been linked to conditions such as asthma, osteoporosis, stomach cancer and hypertension (high blood pressure).