If you replace some of the regular salt in your food with a salt substitute that has less sodium, your blood pressure might drop a little — about 1.5 points for the top number and 1 point for the bottom number for every 10% less salt you use.

Using salt substitutes that have less sodium and more potassium can lower your blood pressure a little, which might help you avoid heart problems and live longer.

Cutting down on salt lowers blood pressure more for people who already have high blood pressure than for those with normal blood pressure—about 2.5 times more.

If you cut down on salt, your blood pressure drops more if you already have high blood pressure than if you don’t—and the drop is about 6.5 mm Hg higher for every 100 mmol of salt you reduce.

If you eat less salt, your blood pressure goes down steadily — even at very low salt levels, cutting back more still helps lower it.

When people used a special salt substitute with less sodium and more potassium, their blood pressure dropped more than scientists expected just from lowering salt — suggesting the extra potassium might be helping out in a way that’s more than just adding two effects together.