> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.foodconsumer.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# High salt, high sugar diet easy to induce hypertension
- URL: https://www.foodconsumer.org/hypertension_high_salt_high_sugar_0808160713/
- Published: 2016-08-08T20:09:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-22T16:10:49.000Z
- Description: Rats fed 4% salt plus 20% fructose saw systolic pressure climb from 125 to 140 mmHg within a week, while rats on high salt or high fructose alone stayed near 122. The combination diet also raised urinary 8-isoprostane, a marker of oxidative stress, and increased salt retention.
- Author: Food Consumer
- Tags: Diet, Nutrition, #vivvo-import

Monday Aug 8, 2016 (foodconsumer.org) -- A new study finds evidence suggesting that eating a diet with high sugar or fructose and high salt can be more detrimental than a diet with high salt alone. It shows that rats developed hypertension quickly when they were fed a diet with high salt and 20% fructose.

For the study, four groups of rats pre-trained for two weeks were treated differently for four weeks. Rats were fed a diet with either 0.4% salt or 20% fructose or 4% salt or 4% salt plus 20% fructose.

At two weeks, systolic blood pressure did not change in rats fed 0.4% salt, 4% salt and 20% fructose and all remained around 122mmHg. However, rats fed a diet with both high salt and high fructose increased blood pressure from 125 to 140 mmHg.

High salt diet resulted in high urinary sodium excretion. Rats fed high salt diet or high salt plus 20% fructose got urinary salt 5 to 6 times higher than that found in rats fed a normal salt diet. However, rats on the diet with 20% fructose plus 4% salt got lower urinary salt than those on the 4% salt diet. 

It was also found that high salt, 20% fructose, and 20% fructose plus high salt increased excretion of urinary 8-Isoprostane, particularly in rats fed the 20% fructose and 20% fructose plus 4% salt. [8-Isoprostane ](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isoprostane?ref=foodconsumer.org)is a biomarker indicating the degree of lipid peroxidation (related to oxidative stress) in animals and humans, according to wikipedia. 

The also finds "in normal rats, 20% dietary fructose supplementation induces hypertension within 8–12 weeks."

The study concludes that increased intake of fructose and salt leads to increased rentention of salt and oxidative stress. High salt plus 20% fructose caused the development of high blood pressure within just one week.

The typical American diet contains high salt and high sugar. It is no wonder that one third of Americans live with high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a sign of health trouble. It can lead to fatal cardiovascular events. (David Liu)

[*Kevin L Gordish, Pablo A Ortiz, Jeffrey L Garvin and William H Beierwaltes, Enhanced Dietary Fructose Rapidly Induces Salt-Sensitive Hypertension in Rats, April 2016, The FASEB Journal, vol. 30 no. 1 Supplement 1216.1*](http://www.fasebj.org/content/30/1%5FSupplement/1216.1.short?ref=foodconsumer.org)