Relationship between dietary mineral intake and blood pressure (BP) in the elderly in Turkey

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between daily dietary mineral (Na, K, Ca and Mg) intake and BP in the elderly. This study was conducted on 390 elderly volunteers (≥65 years). Subjects were randomly selected from the general population of Ankara, Turkey. Anthropometric measurements, lipid profiles, and mean systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP) of all the participants were measured. To determine the mineral intake of the participants, food consumption was measured with a 24-h dietary recall. The 49.3% of participants were found to be hypertensive, 25.1% to be pre-hypertensive and 25.6% were normotensive according to the JNC-7 Guidelines, except for daily Mg and Na intake, the energy, macronutrient and micronutrient intake of groups were not significantly different (p > 0.05). A significant inverse correlation between daily Ca intake and SBP was found in the pre-hypertensive group when age and gender adjusted regression analyses were performed (B = −0.006, p < 0.05). Na intake and Na/K ratio were directly associated with SBP in the hypertensive group. In conclusion, SBP was found to be most related to dietary Na and Ca intake, and Na-to-K ratio in the elderly population.