Research
Micronutrients & recovery
Reducing sodium intake lowers blood pressure, particularly in hypertensive, diabetic, obese, and elderly individuals, but the effect in normotensive populations is smaller and less consistent.
Reduce sodium intake to no more than 6g of sodium chloride (2.4g sodium) per day. This is most effective if you are hypertensive, diabetic, obese, or elderly. Achieve this by avoiding added salt and processed foods.
GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
Changes in sodium intake do affect blood pressure in older persons and in patients with hypertension and diabetes, whereas its role in population blood pressure has proven controversial.
Why this rating
Supported by multiple meta-analyses and RCTs (TOHP II, INTERSALT, TONE), though results vary by subgroup.
Source
Diet, blood pressure and hypertension
Kjeld Hermansen · British Journal Of Nutrition · 2000
DOI 10.1017/s0007114500001045
narrative_reviewCited 196×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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