ReviewNutrients2021
Sodium Intake and Health: What Should We Recommend Based on the Current Evidence?
Review in Nutrients, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 61 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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
61 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 129 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparative effects of salt substitutes on blood pressure, cardiovascular events and mortality: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.BMC medicine · 2026Pooled it
- The impact of dietary sodium and fructose on renal sodium handling and blood pressure in healthy adults.Physiological reports · 2025Trial
- Commercial Edible Seaweeds: Characterization by Mineral Content and Fatty Acid Composition.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- The Redox-Inflammation Axis in Atherosclerosis and Ischemic Stroke: Mechanisms, Biomarkers, and Translational Challenges.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Effect of NaCl Reduction on Dough Rheology and Bread Quality of Fibre-Enriched White Wheat Bread.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Guidelines for daily sodium intake: a counterpoint to the current recommendation for low sodium intake.Sleep advances : a journal of the Sleep Research Society · 2026Review
- Article
- Bridging knowledge gaps in salt consumption for public health action: a cross-sectional study in Saudi Arabia.Internal and emergency medicine · 2026Article
- Efficacy and safety of potassium-containing low-sodium salt substitutes for cardiovascular disease prevention in mixed adult populations: an umbrella review.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2026Article
- Article
- The use of minerals, plants and burnt materials in ancient medicine: Approaches to working recipes in John the Physician'sProceedings of the Geologists' Association. Geologists' Association · 2026Article
- Spray-Dried Salt-Starch Particles for Sodium Reduction and Saltiness Maintenance in Extruded Snacks.Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Examining macro and micronutrient intakes in the Sri Lankan twin cohort: validation of subjective biomarkers from the COTASS-3 study.BMC nutrition · 2026Article
- Mineral content and potentially toxic elements inFood chemistry: X · 2026Article
- Sodium content of packaged foods and beverages in Nigeria: a cross-sectional comparative study with WHO global sodium benchmarks, Kenya, and South Africa.Journal of nutritional science · 2026Article
- Sex differences in central salt sensing in the human brain.American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology · 2025Article
- High Salt Intake and Atherosclerosis Progression-Not Only via Blood Pressure: A Narrative Review.Nutrients · 2025Review
- Central nervous system mechanisms of salt-sensitive hypertension.Physiological reviews · 2025Review
- Implementation of Established Global Guidelines in the Management of CKD in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in Asia.Clinical journal of the American Society of Nephrology : CJASN · 2025Article
- Diet quality and consumption of ultra-processed foods according to age groups in Brazil: insights from the National Dietary Survey 2017-2018.The British journal of nutrition · 2025Article
1 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Several health organizations recommend low sodium intake (below 2.3 g/day, 5.8 g/day of salt) for entire populations, on the premise that lowering of sodium intake, irrespective of its level of intake, will lower blood pressure and, in turn, will result in a lower incidence of cardiovascular disease. These guidelines were developed without effective interventions to achieve long term sodium intakes at low levels in free-living individuals and without high-quality evidence that low sodium intake reduces cardiovascular events (compared with average levels of intake). In this review, we examine whether advice to consume low amounts of sodium is supported by robust evidence. We contend that current evidence indicates that most people around the world consume a moderate range of dietary sodium (3 to 5 g/day), that this level of intake is associated with the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality, and that the risk of adverse health outcomes increases when sodium intakes exceeds 5 g/day or is below 3 g/day. While the current evidence has limitations, it is reasonable, based upon prospective cohort studies, to suggest a mean target of below 5 g/day in populations, while awaiting the results of large randomized controlled trials of sodium reduction on cardiovascular disease and death.
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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.