Copyright © 2014 The Korean Society of Electrolyte Metabolism Dietary Salt Intake and Hypertension

Over the past century, salt has been the subject of intense scientific research related to blood pressure elevation and cardiovascular mortalities. Moderate re-duction of dietary salt intake is generally an effective measure to reduce blood pressure. However, recently some in the academic society and lay media dis-pute the benefits of salt restriction, pointing to inconsistent outcomes noted in some observational studies. A reduction in dietary salt from the current intake of 9-12 g/day to the recommended level of less than 5-6 g/day will have major beneficial effects on cardiovascular health along with major healthcare cost savings around the world. The World Health Organization (WHO) strongly rec-ommended to reduce dietary salt intake as one of the top priority actions to tackle the global non-communicable disease crisis and has urged member na-tions to take action to reduce population wide dietary salt intake to decrease the number of deaths from hypertension, cardiovascular disease and stroke. However, some scientists still advocate the possibility of increased risk of CVD morbidity and mortality at extremes of low salt intake. Future research may in