To salt or not to salt? For decades health experts have been warning people to put down the salt shaker to reduce their risks of heart attack and stroke. But a new study finds that while cutting back on salt does in fact lower blood pressure, it can also boost cholesterol levels.

Published Wednesday, Danish researchers report in the American Journal of Hypertension that reducing sodium consumption led to a one percent drop in blood pressure in people who had normal pressure readings, and a 3.5 percent drop in those with hypertension.