Potassium Salt Could Prevent 2.96M Deaths a Year
Adults with high blood pressure may benefit from a salt that tastes like regular salt, a modeling study across 193 countries suggests.
Updated on Nov. 4, 2026 in Nutrition
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Would you switch to potassium-enriched salt at home?
Researchers at The George Institute for Global Health estimate that switching to potassium-enriched salt, which replaces part of the sodium chloride in regular salt with potassium chloride, could prevent 2.96 million deaths a year worldwide. The alternative looks, tastes and cooks like ordinary table salt, and the World Health Organization endorsed it in 2025.
Why it matters
Excess sodium and too little potassium are established causes of high blood pressure, which affects about 1.4 billion adults aged 30 to 79 worldwide. Because most salt comes from packaged and restaurant food in many high-income regions, the case for a salt swap extends beyond the home kitchen and into food manufacturing and dining.
This is a modeling study rather than a trial, estimating health outcomes across 193 countries based on hypertension prevalence and salt intake. The projections are the study's own estimates, and the stub does not provide observed results from real-world switching.
The players
The George Institute for Global Health
A global research institute that studies strategies to reduce chronic disease, including salt reduction policies and cardiovascular prevention.
World Health Organization
The United Nations agency that sets global public health guidance and endorsed potassium-enriched salt in 2025 as a way to reduce blood pressure and cardiovascular disease.
The details
Potassium-enriched salt replaces part of the sodium chloride in conventional salt with potassium chloride, which lowers sodium intake while adding potassium, a mineral that helps counter sodium's effect on blood pressure. The researchers examined several scenarios, including household cooking salt, salt used in processed and restaurant foods, and people already treated for high blood pressure. Because processed foods and restaurant meals supply more than 70% of dietary salt in Europe and North America, changing the salt used by manufacturers and kitchens could matter as much as changing the shaker at home. People with advanced kidney disease or those taking certain medications may be vulnerable to hyperkalaemia, a potentially dangerous rise in blood potassium.
Timeline
2023: cardiovascular disease caused 19.2 million deaths globally.
2025: the World Health Organization endorsed potassium-enriched salt to reduce cardiovascular risk.
Ongoing: the study projects a global switch could prevent 2.96 million deaths each year.
Health Landscape
The WHO's 2025 endorsement of potassium-enriched salt marks a shift toward salt-substitution as a population-level tool alongside sodium-reduction targets. The new modeling extends that policy case by estimating benefits across 193 countries, including the largest projected gains in China and India.
If you manage high blood pressure or kidney disease, it is worth asking your doctor whether a potassium-enriched salt substitute is appropriate for you, since potassium intake can be risky in some conditions. For most people, checking the sodium content of packaged and restaurant foods is a practical way to reduce salt intake alongside any salt substitute.
The takeaway
Salt substitution could be one of the largest population-level levers against cardiovascular death, especially where processed food supplies most salt. Ask your physician before using potassium-enriched salt if you have kidney disease or take medications that affect potassium.
Further reading
For broader context on how everyday food choices shape heart health, explore our Nutrition coverage.
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Would you switch to potassium-enriched salt at home?
