Salt is made up of around 40% sodium and 60% chloride. It’s commonly used to add flavor to foods or preserve them.

Sodium is a mineral essential for optimal muscle and nerve function. Together with chloride, it also helps your body maintain proper water and mineral balance.

Yet, despite its essential functions, ingesting too much salt can have unpleasant effects, both in the short and long term.

Research suggests that salt-rich diets significantly increase blood pressure and that lowering the salt content of a person’s diet can help lower their blood pressure levels.

For instance, two large reviews report that a reduction in salt intake of 4.4 grams per day may lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure (the top and bottom numbers of a reading) by up to 4.18 mm Hg and 2.06 mm Hg respectively.

However, the observed reductions were close to two times larger in individuals with high blood pressure, compared with those with blood pressure in the normal range.

Moreover, these effects are thought to be significantly stronger in salt-sensitive individuals than in those who are not salt-sensitive. Obesity and aging are also though to amplify the blood pressure-raising effects of salt-rich diets.