Lowered risk of heart attack stroke and death using Dietary salt substitutes

Dietary salt substitutes lower the risk of heart attack, stroke, and death from all causes and cardiovascular disease finds a pooled data analysis of the available evidence, published online in the journal Heart.

The beneficial effects of these substitutes are likely to apply to people all around the world, say the researchers. Salt substitutes, in which a proportion of sodium chloride (NaCl) is replaced with potassium chloride (KCl), are known to help lower blood pressure.

The researchers trawled research databases looking for randomized clinical trials published up to the end of August 2021 and reporting on the effects of a salt substitute on blood pressure, cardiovascular health, and early death.

They pooled the results of 21 relevant international clinical trials involving nearly 30,000 people, carried out in Europe, the Western Pacific Region, the Americas, and South-East Asia.

The study periods lasted from 1 month to 5 years. The proportion of sodium chloride in the salt substitutes varied from 33% to 75%; the proportion of potassium ranged from 25% to 65%.

The pooled data analysis showed that salt substitutes lowered blood pressure in all the participants. The overall reduction in systolic blood pressure was 4.61 mm Hg and the overall reduction in diastolic blood pressure was 1.61 mmHg.

Reductions in blood pressure seemed to be consistent, irrespective of geography, age, sex, history of high blood pressure, weight (BMI), baseline blood pressure, and baseline levels of urinary sodium and potassium.

A pooled data analysis of the results of five of these trials involving more than 24,000 participants showed that salt substitutes lowered the risks of early death from any cause by 11%, from cardiovascular disease by 13%, and the risks of heart attack or stroke by 11%.

Ref:

Dr Maoyi Tian et. al, Effects of salt substitutes on clinical outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis, Heart, doi 10.1136/heartjnl-2022-321332,9-Aug-2022