Salt substitute
low-sodium table salt alternative
A salt substitute, also known as low-sodium salt, is an alternative to edible salt (table salt) marketed to reduce the risk of high blood pressure and cardiovascular disease associated with a high intake of sodium chloride while maintaining a similar taste.
Salt substitutes most often remove some amount of sodium chloride from the product and replace it with potassium chloride. Other formulations replace the sodium chloride with herbs, with magnesium sulphate or other substances.
Low sodium diet
Research
A 2021 randomised controlled trial of 20,995 older people in China reported that use of a potassium salt substitute in home cooking over a five-year period reduced the risk of stroke by 14%, major cardiovascular events by 13% and all-cause mortality by 12% compared to use of regular table salt. The study reported no significant difference in hyperkalaemia between the two groups, though people with serious kidney disease were excluded from the trial. The salt substitute used was 25% potassium chloride and 75% sodium chloride.
A 2022 Cochrane review of 26 trials involving salt substitutes reported their use probably slightly reduces blood pressure, non-fatal stroke, non-fatal acute coronary syndrome and heart disease death in adults compared to use of regular table salt. A separate systematic review and meta-analysis published in the same year of 21 trials involving salt substitutes reported protective effects of salt substitute on total mortality, cardiovascular mortality and cardiovascular events.. The salt substitutes used in the trials captured by these reviews varied in composition.
A 2023 clinical trial engaged 1,612 residents of 48 residential care facilities in China.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Salt substitute” as low-sodium table salt alternative. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1778124. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2021, 2022 and 2023.
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This entry incorporates text from “Salt substitute” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.