Research
Hormonal
Higher habitual salt intake is associated with a significantly increased risk of stroke and total cardiovascular disease.
Reduce your daily salt intake by approximately 5 grams (about one teaspoon). This reduction is associated with a 23% lower risk of stroke and a 17% lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Focus on reformulating foods or choosing lower-sodium options rather than just adding less salt at the table.
GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
Higher salt intake was associated with greater risk of stroke (pooled relative risk 1.23, 95% confidence interval 1.06 to 1.43; P=0.007) and cardiovascular disease (1.14, 0.99 to 1.32; P=0.07)... High salt intake is associated with significantly increased risk of stroke and total cardiovascular disease.
Why this rating
Meta-analysis of 13 prospective studies with 177,025 participants, though heterogeneity was significant.
Source
Salt intake, stroke, and cardiovascular disease: meta-analysis of prospective studies
Pasquale Strazzullo et al. · BMJ · 2009
DOI 10.1136/bmj.b4567
Meta-analysis · 13 studiesCited 1,591×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
More from this paper
- The association between salt intake and stroke risk is dose-dependent, with a 6% increase in stroke rate for every 50 mmol/day difference in sodium intake.Good
- The risk reduction from salt reduction is independent of baseline blood pressure, suggesting mechanisms beyond just blood pressure lowering.Good
Related findings · Hormonal
- Initial treatment for type 2 diabetes should be a combination of metformin and either an SGLT-2 inhibitor or a GLP-1 receptor agonist to achieve cardiorenal protection, rather than monotherapy or older agents like sulfonylureas.Strong
- For patients with specific monogenic obesity syndromes (leptin deficiency, POMC/PCSK1/LEPR mutations), targeted pharmacotherapy (recombinant leptin or setmelanotide) is highly effective and should be prioritized, unlike in polygenic obesity.Strong
- Continued weekly administration of 2.4 mg subcutaneous semaglutide prevents weight regain and promotes further weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, whereas switching to placebo results in significant weight regain.Strong
This is one finding among thousands. Every one is graded and traced to its source, so you can see what the evidence actually supports. Browse the research →