Eating too much salt is behind about one in three high blood pressure cases around the world and may be linked to nearly 2 million deaths every year. Cutting back on salt can help lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart problems and early death.

If you eat less salt, your blood pressure tends to go down, and you’re less likely to have a stroke, heart problems, or die early.

Eating too much salt may raise your chances of getting high blood pressure—every extra gram of salt you eat daily is tied to a 16% higher chance of having high blood pressure.

Eating a lot of salt—more than 7 grams a day—might make people with high blood pressure more likely to have a heart attack, stroke, or even die sooner.

Eating more salt might increase your chances of heart problems as you get older — one big analysis found people who eat a lot of salt have about a 19% higher risk than those who eat less.

For people with slightly high blood pressure, eating more salt seems to raise the risk of dying earlier—even at very low salt levels below what’s usually considered healthy. There’s no sign that eating very little salt is safe or helpful.