The Study
Trend analysis and projection of gastric cancer burden linked to high sodium intake in China, Japan, Republic of Korea, and Mongolia (1990–2021): A comprehensive assessment based on the 2021 global burden of disease study
This study is like looking at old pictures of four countries to see if salty food and stomach cancer are connected. It shows that when countries got richer, stomach cancer went down, but it can't prove that eating less salt is the reason—it just shows they happened at the same time.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
In China, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia, fewer people are dying from stomach cancer linked to eating too much salt, especially men and older adults.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 533 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1Yes, reducing salt intake and better treatments are helping save lives, but aging populations may still increase total cases.
- 2Death rates dropped most in Korea (about 4.5% per year); men had up to 2.4 times more deaths than women.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
PLOS One
Year
2025
Authors
Xiaohuang Yang, Shaoxing Chen, Canmei Zhong, Yadong Lai, Fenglin Chen
Related Content
Claims (6)
Eating a lot of salty preserved foods can hurt your stomach lining and cause long-term swelling, making you more likely to get stomach cancer after many years.
Fewer people in China, Japan, Korea, and Mongolia died or got sick from stomach cancer linked to eating too much salt between 1990 and 2021, with Korea seeing the biggest drop.
This claim says that in several Asian countries, more men than women die from stomach cancer linked to eating too much salt, with men dying about 1.7 to 2.4 times more often than women.
In simple terms, this means that efforts like cutting salt in food and better medical treatments helped lower stomach cancer cases linked to too much salt, but more people getting older and population growth made the problem worse in some Asian countries.
In simple terms: Stomach cancer linked to eating too much salt is expected to become less common in these Asian countries over the next 15 years, but because more people are getting older and populations are growing, the total number of deaths might still go up in China and Mongolia.
Eating too much salt might lead to more stomach cancer in older people in some Asian countries, and it doesn't get better as quickly for them as it does for others.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.