In brief

• Hypertension affects about 1.4 billion adults, and cardiovascular diseases remain the leading cause of death worldwide.
• A study by The George Institute for Global Health estimates that switching to potassium-enriched salt could prevent about 3 million deaths a year.
• Implementing such a change would require cooperation from the food industry and increased production of potassium chloride.

Heart disease and stroke still kill on a massive scale

Around the world, about 1.4 billion adults aged 30 to 79 have high blood pressure, meaning one in three people in that age group (Sól wzbogacona potasem może uratować miliony osób. Nowe rekomendacje ekspertów – RMF24). In 2023, these conditions led to 19.2 million deaths, and over the past three decades that number has risen by nearly 50 percent.

A simple swap in the kitchen

Hypertension is driven by two long-known dietary factors: too much sodium and too little potassium (Stroke, Heart Disease: Salt Substitutes May Prevent Millions of Deaths – healthline.com). Potassium-enriched salt replaces part of the sodium chloride with potassium chloride. It reduces sodium and provides potassium, which lowers blood pressure. Researchers emphasize that this approach addresses both causes at once (Switching to potassium-enriched salt could prevent millions of global deaths – news-medical.net).

Numbers for the world and the US

A team from The George Institute for Global Health analyzed the effects of changing salt in 193 countries. According to their estimates, about 3 million deaths and more than 10 million new cases of heart and kidney disease could be prevented each year. For the United States, the researchers calculated that replacing regular salt with potassium-enriched salt could save almost 105,000 people annually.

Why it is not simple

Researchers note that switching to potassium-enriched salt is for now a starting point for discussion rather than a ready-made plan. Implementation would require cooperation from food producers and increased production of potassium chloride. The authors compare the cost of such a change to many drug therapies, which they say are considerably more expensive.

Same taste

According to the researchers, potassium-enriched salt tastes similar to traditional salt, which would make a possible transition easier without giving up existing culinary habits (A Simple Kitchen Swap May Prevent Up to 3 Million Deaths a Year – Gizmodo).