evidence: A new study published in the American Journal of Hypertension analyzed data from 8,670 French adults and found that salt consumption wasn’t associated with systolic blood pressure in either men or women after controlling for factors like age. Why not? One explanation, the authors write, is that the link we all assume between salt and blood pressure is "overstated" and "more complex than once believed." It should be noted, however, that even though the study found no statistically significant association between blood pressure and sodium in the diet, those patients who were hypertensive consumed significantly more salt than those without hypertension—suggesting, as other research has, that salt affects people differently. [...] The CDC firmly believes that salt directly influences blood pressure. "We consider the totality of the evidence," said Janelle Gunn of the CDC’s Division of Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention at a press conference. "A vast majority of scientific research confirms that as sodium is reduced, so is blood pressure."