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When it comes to reducing blood pressure, some articles suggest drinking water as a solution. However, reputable sources like the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and the Mayo Clinic do not mention water consumption as a treatment or lifestyle change for hypertension.

So why do some articles claim that drinking water can lower blood pressure?

The idea stems from the notion that consuming large amounts of water will flush sodium out of the body, thereby reducing pressure. After all, diuretics, which are known to effectively lower blood pressure, work by increasing sodium loss through urine and reducing blood volume.

Therefore, if drugs that lower blood pressure work by increasing urine volume and sodium in urine, it would make sense for drinking more water to have the same effect, right?

Unfortunately, there is a flaw in this reasoning. To understand why, we need to realize that the body tightly controls fluid and ion levels like sodium and calcium. The body has evolved various control processes to maintain these levels within a narrow range for optimal functioning.

Diuretics target the parts of the body that regulate sodium. For example, thiazide diuretics inhibit a protein called the Na/Cl symporter, which controls the reabsorption of sodium from urine back into the blood. As a result, less sodium is recovered from urine, more sodium is lost, and there is a slight increase in urine volume. Diuretics essentially affect this regulatory system.

Water, on the other hand, has no impact on the sodium or fluid control system. It does not change the overall amount of sodium in urine or alter blood volume. When we drink more water, the body regulates fluid levels to maintain a stable blood volume, leading to an increase in urine volume. Additionally, the same amount of sodium in a larger urine volume makes the urine more dilute.

Consider the color of urine. If someone has not consumed much fluid or has sweated a lot, their urine will be small in quantity and have a strong yellow color (from urobilin). On the other hand, if a person is well-hydrated, there will be more urine with a pale color. The same principle applies to sodium concentration. In a healthy individual, increased fluid consumption leads to a greater urine volume and a lower concentration of sodium.

Therefore, in general, increasing water consumption does not result in increased sodium loss from the blood, and thus does not lower blood pressure.

In fact, for some individuals, drinking water can temporarily increase blood pressure, especially those with certain types of very low blood pressure. However, this increase is short-lived and does not have a long-term impact on blood pressure.

Maintaining hydration is important for overall health, but excessive hydration does not offer any benefits for lowering blood pressure.

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Ihab Salloum