Diet and Blood Pressure: The High and Low of it

Abstract

Hypertension is a global public health problem. Roughly one billion people worldwide are estimated to have clinically significant elevations in blood pressure (BP) with about 50 million of them in the United States (World Health Statistics 2015. WHO, Geneva, 2015). Hypertension, in turn, is the most important of 67 risk factors for worldwide risk of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, renal disease, and all-cause mortality (Lancet, 380, 2224–60, 2012). BP is significantly affected by nutrition which is the subject of this chapter.