Replacing regular salt with a salt substitute lowers blood pressure and protects against life-threatening heart conditions, stroke and death from all causes, research suggests.

High consumption of salt composed of sodium chloride is known to drive blood pressure up, leading to poor cardiovascular health and posing a major risk of early death.

However, research published in the journal Heart has revealed that swapping regular salt for a substitute, in which a portion of the sodium chloride is replaced with potassium chloride, reduces these health risks.

The study compiled results from 21 clinical trials, involving nearly 32,000 participants, published up to the end of August 2021 and reporting the effects of salt substitutes on blood pressure.

The team from the George Institute for Global Health in New South Wales, Australia, and Imperial College London, found that salt substitutes reduced blood pressure in all participants, regardless of region, age, sex, weight and blood pressure-related factors.

“Salt substitutes produce consistent blood pressure-lowering effects across geographies and diverse participant subsets,” the researchers write.

No adverse effects were detected from the increased intake of potassium chloride. The effect of potassium chloride added to salt substitutes has, however, raised concerns for people with kidney disease, who should limit dietary potassium intake.

When the researchers carried out a smaller analysis of just over 24,000 participants, they found that switching to salt substitutes reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke and early death from any cause by 11%. The risk of cardiovascular disease was reduced by 13%.

Similar results were published in a study last year, involving over 20,000 participants with high blood pressure from 600 villages in China. It was unclear, however, whether the benefits from salt substitutes would be the same in other parts of the world.

“Salt substitutes produce consistent blood pressure-lowering effects across geographies and diverse participant subsets,” the researchers write.

No adverse effects were detected from the increased intake of potassium chloride. The effect of potassium chloride added to salt substitutes has, however, raised concerns for people with kidney disease, who should limit dietary potassium intake.

When the researchers carried out a smaller analysis of just over 24,000 participants, they found that switching to salt substitutes reduced the risk of heart attack, stroke and early death from any cause by 11%. The risk of cardiovascular disease was reduced by 13%.

Similar results were published in a study last year, involving over 20,000 participants with high blood pressure from 600 villages in China. It was unclear, however, whether the benefits from salt substitutes would be the same in other parts of the world.

Study found salt substitutes reduced blood pressure in all participants. Photograph: Hera Food/Alamy