A call for quality research on salt intake and health : from the World Hypertension League and supporting organizations

Extensive research supports the harmful effects of high dietary sodium.[1-11] In several animal species, including chimpanzees, diets with added sodium result in increased blood pressure (BP), and, in all settings, sodium-induced hypertension is harmful.[12] Further, in several animal models, increased dietary sodium directly causes inflammation and vascular, cardiac, and renal target organ damage independent of BP.[1, 13] Increased dietary sodium is a procarcinogen for gastric cancer in animal studies and a probable procarcinogen in humans, as shown in epidemiological studies that have found close associations between sodium intake and gastric cancer.[14, 15] Reducing dietary sodium decreases BP in adults and children,[1] with a linear relationship down to the lowest levels of sodium intake tested in randomized controlled trials (about 1200 mg/d of sodium). Increased dietary sodium is also associated with increased vascular events in healthy populations and was estimated to cause more than 3 million sodium-related deaths in 2010 (http://viz.healthmetricsandevaluation.org/gbd-compare/). Reducing dietary sodium is projected to be one of the most effective (and cost-effective) interventions to improve health.[16] Major health and scientific organizations around the world have recommended that dietary sodium levels be reduced