Research

Hormonal

Global sodium consumption above 2.0 g/day is attributable to 1.65 million cardiovascular deaths annually, with the majority occurring in low- and middle-income countries.

Reducing your sodium intake to below 2.0 g/day can significantly lower your risk of cardiovascular death. This is especially important if you live in a low- or middle-income country, where the burden is highest. Focus on reducing processed foods and added salt.

LimitedSupportsHIGH confidence
Globally, 1.65 million annual deaths from cardiovascular causes (95% uncertainty interval [confidence interval], 1.10 million to 2.22 million) were attributed to sodium intake above the reference level; 61.9% of these deaths occurred in men and 38.1% occurred in women. These deaths accounted for nearly 1 of every 10 deaths from cardiovascular causes (9.5%). Four of every 5 deaths (84.3%) occurred in low- and middle-income countries
Dariush Mozaffarian et al. · New England Journal of Medicine · 2014

Why this rating

Based on a modeling study using comparative risk assessment, combining data from multiple meta-analyses and global burden studies. While robust, it is a model rather than a single randomized trial.

Source

Global Sodium Consumption and Death from Cardiovascular Causes

Dariush Mozaffarian et al. · New England Journal of Medicine · 2014

DOI 10.1056/nejmoa1304127

Meta-analysis · 107 studiesCited 1,216×
Read the paper
DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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