ReviewNature reviews. Cardiology2018
Role of salt intake in prevention of cardiovascular disease: controversies and challenges.
Review in Nature reviews. Cardiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 88 papers, 6 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
88 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 153 citations in OpenAlex.
- From Salt Deposits to the Dinner Table: A Systematic Review of Heavy Metal Contamination in Edible Salt; Sources, Limitations of Conventional Purification, Human Exposure, and Regulatory Gaps.Biological trace element research · 2026Pooled it
- Cheese consumption and multiple health outcomes: an umbrella review and updated meta-analysis of prospective studies.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of the Sources of Dietary Salt Around the World.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2020Pooled it
- Effect of dose and duration of reduction in dietary sodium on blood pressure levels: systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2020Pooled it
- Twenty-Four-Hour Urinary Sodium and Potassium Excretion in China: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2019Pooled it
- Effectiveness of an online food shopping intervention to reduce salt purchases among individuals with hypertension - findings of the SaltSwitch Online Grocery Shopping (OGS) randomised trial.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2024Trial
- Effect of home cook interventions for salt reduction in China: cluster randomised controlled trial.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Effects of a Japanese Cuisine-Based Antihypertensive Diet and Fish Oil on Blood Pressure and Its Variability in Participants with Untreated Normal High Blood Pressure or Stage I Hypertension: A Feasibility Randomized Controlled Study.Journal of atherosclerosis and thrombosis · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Urinary sodium excretion and dietary sources of sodium intake in community-dwelling Chinese adults aged 50 years and over.Public health nutrition · 2021Trial
- Impact of a sodium-reduced bread intervention with and without dietary counseling on sodium intake-a cluster randomized controlled trial among Danish families.European journal of clinical nutrition · 2020Trial
- Impact of KCl-divalent salt synergistic substitution on protease activity and volatile flavor profile in sodium-reduced sour meat.Food chemistry: X · 2026Article
- Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Novel Mechanisms Underlying Neutrophil Activation Induced by High Salt.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Article
- Salt intake moderates the association between BMI and cardiometabolic risk: evidence from an occupational cohort in Beijing.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Article
- Trends of Global Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases Attributable to High Sodium Intake From 1990 to 2021 and Projections to 2030: A Population-Based Study.Journal of clinical hypertension (Greenwich, Conn.) · 2025Article
- Burden of Cardiovascular Diseases Attributable to Hypertension in Population Aged 60 Years or Older from 1990 to 2040 across BRICS-plus Countries (Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa).High blood pressure & cardiovascular prevention : the official journal of the Italian Society of Hypertension · 2025Article
- The Impact of a Western Diet with High Salt on Metabolic Outcomes in Male C57bl/6J Mice.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing Food is Medicine for the Management of Type 2 Diabetes in China.Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Article
28 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Strong evidence indicates that reduction of salt intake lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). The WHO has set a global target of reducing the population salt intake from the current level of approximately 10 g daily to <5 g daily. This recommendation has been challenged by several studies, including cohort studies, which have suggested a J-shaped relationship between salt intake and CVD risk. However, these studies had severe methodological problems, such as reverse causality and measurement error due to assessment of salt intake by spot urine. Consequently, findings from such studies should not be used to derail vital public health policy. Gradual, stepwise salt reduction as recommended by the WHO remains an achievable, affordable, effective, and important strategy to prevent CVD worldwide. The question now is how to reduce population salt intake. In most developed countries, salt reduction can be achieved by a gradual and sustained reduction in the amount of salt added to food by the food industry. The UK has pioneered a successful salt-reduction programme by setting incremental targets for >85 categories of food; many other developed countries are following the UK's lead. In developing countries where most of the salt is added by consumers, public health campaigns have a major role. Every country should adopt a coherent, workable strategy. Even a modest reduction in salt intake across the whole population can lead to a major improvement in public health and cost savings.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.