Sodium

Studies in people

• Benefit

  Blood pressure and heart health³

  Eating less sodium lowers blood pressure, which cuts heart disease deaths.

• Benefit

  Blood pressure in kidney disease⁴

  In non-dialysis kidney disease patients, eating less sodium lowers blood pressure and protein in urine.

• Concern

  Blood pressure risk⁵

  Eating more sodium was linked to a higher risk of high blood pressure in adults.

• Concern

  Blood pressure and heart risk⁶

  Eating a lot of sodium over time is linked to high blood pressure and heart problems.

• Concern

  Blood pressure⁷

  In people, eating more sodium raised blood pressure, and cutting sodium lowered it, in a straight-line way.

• Concern

  Skin condition risk⁸

  In adults, higher estimated sodium intake was linked to more eczema, but the studies cannot prove cause.

• Benefit

  Lifespan and death rates⁹

  In people, eating more sodium was linked to longer life and fewer deaths, but scientists say this doesn't prove cause.

• Benefit

  Blood pressure in people¹⁰

  In people with high blood pressure, a four-month lifestyle program lowered sodium intake and blood pressure.

• Concern

  Heart and blood vessel risk¹¹

  Eating more sodium was linked to a higher risk of heart and blood vessel problems.

• Open question

  Blood pressure over time¹³

  Eating less sodium chloride helps keep blood pressure from rising as you age.

• Open question

  Cortisol test results¹⁴

  Eating more sodium made people's urine cortisol look higher, which could cause false alarm results.

• Open question

  Bone strength and osteoporosis risk¹⁸

  In this study, people who ate less sodium tended to have weaker bones, but the link differed between men and women.

• Concern

  Blood pressure in young people¹⁹

  In young people, eating too much sodium is linked to a type of high blood pressure.

• No harm found

  Multiple sclerosis risk²⁰

  In women, eating more sodium did not raise the chance of getting multiple sclerosis.

• No harm found

  Blood pressure in pregnancy²¹

  In pregnant people, eating more sodium was not linked to a higher risk of high blood pressure.

• Concern

  Heart and blood pressure²⁴

  Eating too much sodium raises blood pressure and heart disease risk, so cutting back helps.

How it’s made and used

• Heart failure outcomes¹²

  In people with heart failure, cutting down on sodium was tied to more deaths or hospital stays combined.

• How much salt kids eat¹⁵

  In US youth, average sodium intake went down over time but was still not ideal.

• Salt intake in students¹⁶

  College students who ate out or ordered takeaways often took in more sodium than those who did not.

• Salt in the diet¹⁷

  In Nigerian adults, nearly two-thirds of sodium came from sources like salt and salty seasonings.

• Salt intake in children²²

  Children's sodium intake fell over ten years across all income groups, with the gap between richer and poorer families narrowing.

• Tracking salt intake²³

  A phone app logged sodium lower than the amount found in people's urine.

The signal at the top counts the findings in people and in animal and lab studies. A concern in studies of people outranks animal and lab studies, and “No concerns” needs at least one finding in people. When most findings in people point one way, the page leans that way (“Mostly”), and every finding is still shown. Findings whose study type is not stated are shown but not counted. This page is a reference, not medical advice. It describes what regulators and published research say. Talk to a doctor or dietitian about your own diet.