Replacing regular table salt with a salt substitute can lower the risk of stroke 14 percent and combined risk of stroke and heart attacks 13 percent. The new data comes from a recently published study by The George Institute for Global Health. They recruited over 20,000 participants 60 and older with high blood pressure living in rural China. The researchers gave the participants normal table salt with a salt substitute that replaced some of the sodium chloride with potassium chloride. While salt substitutes with potassium instead of sodium have been shown to lower blood pressure, it’s important to talk to your doctor if you are on blood pressure medications or have kidney disease. Plus, this study looked at people who mostly cooked their own meals at home. Americans get a vast majority of their sodium from packaged, processed, or frozen foods or from restaurant foods. Cutting back on those might have a greater impact on sodium intake than just switching out your table salt.
Podcast (better-than-ever-daily): Play in new window | Download
