Low salt diet

A low sodium diet is a diet that includes no more than 1,500 to 2,400 mg of sodium per day.

The human minimum requirement for sodium in the diet is about 500 mg per day, which is typically less than one-sixth as much as many diets "seasoned to taste". For certain people with salt-sensitive blood pressure or diseases such as Ménière's disease, this extra intake may cause a negative effect on health.

The effect of a low salt diet on mortality or cardiovascular disease is unclear with any benefit in either hypertensive or normal tensive people being small if present. In 2012, the British Journal Heart published an article claiming that a low salt diet appears to increase the risk of death in those with congestive heart failure, but the article was retracted in 2013. The article was retracted by the journal when it was found the two of the studies cited contained duplicate data that could not be verified.

A low sodium diet has a useful effect to reduce blood pressure, both in people with hypertension and in people with normal blood pressure. Taken together, a low salt diet (median of approximately 4.5 g/day - approx 1800 mg Sodium) in hypertensive people resulted in a decrease in systolic blood pressure by 5 mmHg, and in diastolic blood pressure by 2.70 mmHg. In people with normal blood pressure, the corresponding decrease in systolic blood pressure was 2.03 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure 0.99 mmHg.

Sodium occurs naturally in most foods. The most common form of sodium is sodium chloride, which is table salt. Milk, beets, and celery also naturally contain sodium, as does drinking water, although the amount varies depending on the source. Sodium is also added to various food products. Some of these added forms are monosodium glutamate, sodium nitrite, sodium saccharin, baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), and sodium benzoate.

It has been noted that such large amounts of salts are given out by regenerative water softeners that over 60 cities in Southern California have banned these units because of elevated salt levels in ground water reclamation projects caused by water softeners and other sources. Water labeled as "drinking water" in supermarkets may have sodium since it is usually only filtered with a carbon filter and will contain any and all sodium present in the source water.

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