Reducing excess sodium is projected to have substantial benefits in reducing related morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs.
Reducing Sodium and take improves health outcomes for hundreds of thousands of individuals.
Current average sodium intake aged one year and older are about 3400 mg per day, approximately 50% more than chronic disease risk reduction recommends at a limit of 2300 mg/day for adults and children 14 years or older.
Even the youngest individuals consume excess sodium, as more than 95% of children age 2-13 years old exceed recommended limits for their age groups, the consequences of which could influence adult health outcomes.
Mean sodium intake for men aged 19-30 years is 4274 mg per day, almost twice the recommended limit.
Most sodium intake in the US is in the form of sodium chloride, which is composed of 40% sodium and 60% chloride, commonly known as salt.
Sodium chloride is ubiquitous in the food supply.
Greater effect reducing blood pressure in blacks compared to whites, in women compared to men and in those with hypertension than in those with high normal blood pressure.
Among individuals with a history of stroke or greater than 60 years of age or older and had hypertension, the rate of stroke, major cardiovascular events and death from any were lower with salt substitute them with regular salt (Neal, B).
Sodium reduction and potassium supplementation have been shown to independently lower blood pressure and have synergistic effects.
Blood pressure response to sodium intake may be more of a spectrum than a binary threshold with the vast majority of middle age and older adults with high baseline sodium intake experiencing blood pressure lowering during a very low sodium, high potassium and high calcium diet versus high sodium diet independent of hypertension, status and antihypertensive medication use.
Estimate are that 50% and 25% of individuals,with and without hypertension exhibit salt sensitivity of blood pressure.
In a prospective allocated diet crossover study with one week of low sodium diet, resulting in an average 8 mm reduction in systolic blood pressure, versus a high sodium diet: the low sodium diet lowered systolic blood pressure in nearly 75% of individuals compared with high sodium diet-the blood pressure lowering effect of dietary sodium reduction was comparable with a commonly used first line antihypertensive medication.