# Sodium and Potassium Intake and Mortality Among US Adults
Canonical: https://nutritionizm.com/research/10-1001-archinternmed-2011-257/
Last verified: 2026-10-26
Source: Archives of Internal Medicine (2011), DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2011.257
License: USDA FoodData Central values are public domain (CC0 1.0); Nutritionizm compilation and plain-language text are licensed under CC BY 4.0 (attribution: link to Canonical URL).

## TL;DR

Adults with higher sodium intake or a higher sodium-to-potassium ratio had a greater risk of death from any cause or heart disease.

## What they did

Researchers studied 12,267 U.S. adults from a national health survey. They tracked deaths for an average of 14.8 years. The team looked at sodium and potassium intake and the ratio between them.

## What they found

Each 1000 mg per day increase in sodium was linked to a hazard ratio of 1.20 for death from any cause. Each 1000 mg per day increase in potassium was linked to a hazard ratio of 0.80 for death. Compared to the lowest group, people with the highest sodium-to-potassium ratio had a hazard ratio of 1.46 for all-cause death and 2.15 for death from ischemic heart disease.

## Why it matters

Studies suggest that eating less sodium and more potassium may be linked to a lower risk of early death. Foods like fruits and vegetables tend to be high in potassium, while many processed foods are high in sodium. This link may help guide everyday food choices.

## Limits

The abstract does not discuss study limitations. This is general education, not medical advice.

## Jargon explained

- **hazard ratio**: A number that shows how much more or less likely an event is in one group compared to another.
- **confidence interval**: A range of values that likely includes the true effect.
- **ischemic heart disease**: A type of heart disease caused by narrowed arteries that reduce blood flow to the heart.

## Full citation

Quanhe Yang (2011). Sodium and Potassium Intake and Mortality Among US Adults. *Archives of Internal Medicine*. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2011.257