Epidemiological data indicate that the risk of cardiovascular
disease (CVD) is progressive throughout the range of BP with a
threshold down to 115 mmHg for systolic blood pressure (SBP) and
75 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure (DBP) (Lewington et al.,
2002; Lawes et al., 2003). Suboptimal blood pressure (SBP above
115 mmHg) is responsible for around 62% of strokes and 49% of
ischemic heart disease globally (World Health Organization, 2002).
Conversely, reduced sodium intake is associated with lower BP in
both hypertensive and normotensive individuals (Neal et al., 2007).
Moreover lowering sodium intake is also beneficial for people on
antihypertensive medications achieving optimum blood pressure