Change in mean salt intake: 24-h urine versus overnight and spot urine samples

Published in the Nutrition Journal on 6th December 2020, Santos et al conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the estimates of change in mean population salt intake based on 24-h urine and overnight/spot urine samples. From 14 studies, the pooled mean change in salt intake was − 0.43 g/day (95% CI − 1.16 […]

Spot urine samples should not be used to examine sodium‐disease relationships

Published in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension on 10 September 2020, Peterson et al. conducted a systematic review on the use of spot urine samples to examine sodium-disease relationships. As part of the Science of Salt series of regularly updated reviews, this study critically appraised relevant studies from November 2018 to August 2019. Only two […]

Salt reduction initiatives in Africa: A systematic review

Published in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension, Tekle et al conducted a systematic review to document salt consumption patterns, the implementation status and potential impact of salt reduction initiatives in Africa. From 38 studies included, the review found that the mean estimated salt intake in African adults ranged from 6.8 g/day to 11.3 g/day. Salt […]

A dose-response: reduction of blood pressure by restricting dietary sodium intake

Huang et al conducted systematic review and meta-analysis published in British Medical Journal that examines the dose-response relationship between a reduction in dietary sodium and change in BP. Measured using the gold standard, each 50mmol reduction in 24-hour sodium excretion was associated with a 1.10 mm Hg reduction in SBP and a 0.33 mm Hg […]

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Salt Consumption in Latin America and the Caribbean

Published in Nutrients, Carrillo-Larco and Bernabe-Ortiz conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate sodium and salt consumption in Latin America and the Caribbean. The review included 15 studies for qualitative synthesis and 18 studies for quantitative synthesis. Six studies collected 24 h urine samples while the others collected either 12 h, overnight, or spot […]

A Systematic Review of the Sources of Dietary Salt Around the World

Published in Advances in Nutrition, Bhat et al conducted a global systematic review of dietary salt sources. Between 1975 and 2018, 80 studies (74 peer-reviewed) from 34 countries were identified. Discretionary sources of salt contributed to more than half daily intake in at least eight countries, and more than a quarter of daily intake in […]

Dietary Sources of Salt in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Menyanu E et al recently published a systematic literature review, investigating the dietary sources of salt in low- and middle- income countries (LMICs), published in Environmental Research and Public Health. They reviewed articles that included information on dietary intake of salt using dietary assessment methods, food composition tables, and/or laboratory analysis of the salt content […]

The Science of Salt: A global review on changes in sodium levels in foods

A global review by Santos JA et al in the Journal of Clinical Hypertension summarised and synthesised the evidence for changes in sodium levels in food products. The review included studies from 2013 to 2018 that were published in the Science of Salt Weekly newsletter, which are identified through a weekly MEDLINE search. 24 relevant […]

The Science of Salt: Updating the evidence on global estimates of salt intake

A recent review by Thout SR et al aimed to update the evidence on population salt intake globally, following the 2010 Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. Studies that measured salt intake using 24-hour urine collection in a nationally representative sample between January 2011 and September 2018 were included. Thirteen studies met the inclusion criteria, […]