Low Sodium Intake — Cardiovascular Health Benefit or Risk?

Hypertension is the most common modifiable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and death. Worldwide, it is estimated that more than 1 billion adults have hypertension, that this figure is projected to climb to 1.5 billion by the year 2025, and that hypertension accounts for more than 9 million deaths annually.1,2 Because of its high prevalence and related morbidity and mortality, population-wide approaches to reducing blood pressure, and therefore the burden of cardiovascular disease, have been recommended. Among these strategies, reducing dietary sodium and, to a lesser extent, increasing dietary potassium have been included in many guidelines for the treatment . . .