National Intervention Evidence for the Benefits of Reducing Sodium Intake

Bee Wilson’s June 22, 2023 Wall Street Journal article “It’s Too Bad Salt Tastes So Good” provided the most persuasive evidence I have seen for reducing sodium being beneficial for most people.

“From 2003 to 2011, British food companies voluntarily agreed to reduce the salt in their products without letting consumers know. In that period, the number of deaths from stroke fell by 42%.” https://t.co/ZGdSyHXU8a
— Miles Kimball (@mileskimball) June 27, 2023

“In the 1950s..Japanese salt consumption was..18 grams a day in the north..a government campaign successfully reduced salt intake to 12.1 grams a day by the 1960s. At the same time there was an astonishing 80% decline in deaths from stroke” https://t.co/ZGdSyHXU8a
— Miles Kimball (@mileskimball) June 27, 2023

“in the U.K., as in the U.S., the vast majority of the sodium people consume comes in the form of processed food or food consumed away from home..Take breakfast cereals: Many..contain more than half a gram of salt per recommended serving.” https://t.co/ZGdSyHXU8a
— Miles Kimball (@mileskimball) June 27, 2023

I find the national intervention evidence from the UK and Japan quite convincing about the benefits of reducing sodium intake for the average person. However, as the quotation in the third tweet notes, in the US and UK, most of our sodium intake is in highly processed food. (In Japan, traditional food has a lot of salt in it.) So those who avoid—as they should—highly processed food, may not need to reduce their sodium intake. I am in that category. I also test out as having low blood pressure. But if I ever start worrying about my sodium intake, I have bought some “Dead Sea Salt” that is 2/3 potassium chloride and only 1/3 Sodium Chloride, following Bee Wilson’s advice to try replacing some of one’s sodium chloride consumption with potassium chloride consumption.