(1) Background: Excessive salt consumption is associated with an increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, and it is essential to reduce it to the level recommended by the World Health Organization (<5 g/day). The main objective of this study is to verify the impact of an intervention, which used the Salt Control H equipment to reducing salt consumption; (2) Methods: The study was an 8-week randomized control trial with 114 workers from a public university. The intervention group (n = 57) used the equipment to monitor and control the use of salt during cooking (Salt Control H) at home for 8 weeks. The primary outcome was 24 h urinary sodium excretion as a proxy of salt intake. Secondary outcomes included changes in 24 h urinary potassium excretion, sodium to potassium ratio (Na:K), and blood pressure. (3) Results: There was a decrease in sodium intake after the intervention but with no statistical significance. When analyzing the results by sex and hypertension status, there was a reduction in sodium (−1009 (−1876 to −142), p = 0.025) and in Na:K ratio (−0.9 (−1.5 to −0.3), p = 0.007) in hypertensive men in the intervention group. (4) Conclusions: Interventions with dosage equipment can be valid approaches in individual salt reduction strategies, especially in hypertensive men.

Background: Adequate sodium intake is important for lowering blood pressure and thus reducing cardiovascular disease risk and other complications. The aim of this review is to identify recent interventions around the world that have been successful in reducing salt intake. Methods: A search in the PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus databases was performed. We include studies published in the last 10 years; randomized trials, pilot intervention without a control arm or experimental study; adult participants; and interventions that successfully reduced salt intake. Study quality was assessed. Results: We included 21 studies, 16 randomized intervention trials and five nonrandomized intervention studies. Eleven interventions described health and nutritional education, seven interventions described nutritional education plus other interventions, and three studies used salt meters to reduce sodium intake. Conclusion: Health and nutritional education, nutritional education plus other interventions and estimates of salt intake showed success in the reduction of salt consumption. There is no evidence that one type of intervention analyzed is more effective than other in reducing salt consumption, so we must analyze each in which individuals or subpopulations will have the intervention performed and use the most suitable approaches to lead to better results.

IntroductionExcessive salt intake is a public health concern due to its deleterious impact on health. Most of the salt consumed come from those that are added when cooking. This study will improve knowledge on the effectiveness of interventions to reduce salt consumption among consumers.Methods and analysisIn this randomised clinical trial, we will be evaluating the efficacy of an intervention—the Salt Control H, an innovative prototype equipment to monitor and control use of salt when cooking—among workers from a public university, with the aim of reducing their dietary salt intake. We will randomly select 260 workers who meet the eligibility criteria and who are enrolled to an occupational health appointment and randomise them into one of the two arms of the study (either control or intervention), with matched baseline characteristics (sex and hypertension). The intervention will last for 8 weeks, during which the participants will use the equipment at home to monitor and control their use of salt when cooking. The main outcome will be 24-hour urinary sodium excretion at baseline, at fourth and eighth weeks of intervention, and at 6 months after intervention.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval for the study has been obtained from the Ethics Committee of the Centro Hospitalar Universitário São João. The results of the investigation will be published in peer-reviewed scientific papers and presented at international conferences.Trial registration numberNCT03974477Equipment provisional patent numberRegistered at INPI: 20191000033265.

(1) Background: Excessive salt intake is associated with an increased risk of hypertension and cardiovascular disease, so reducing it is critical. The main objective of this study was to verify whether one intervention to reduce added salt during cooking changed knowledge, attitudes and behavior (KAB) towards salt, and to analyze changes in the main sources of salt. (2) Methods: The intervention study was an 8-week randomized controlled trial with 97 workers from a public university. KAB in relation to salt were obtained through the WHO STEPwise questionnaire, and the main sources of salt were obtained by 24-h food recall and 24 h urinary sodium excretion over two days. (3) Results: After the intervention, participants in the intervention group reported a decrease in the addition of salt when cooking (p = 0.037), an increase in the percentage of subjects who avoided the consumption of processed foods (from 54.2% to 83.3%, p = 0.001), who looked for salt on food labels (from 18.8% to 39.6%, p = 0.013), and who bought low-salt food alternatives (from 43.8% to 60.4%, p = 0.039). However, there were no significant differences between the intervention group and the control group at baseline and post-intervention assessments. In the intervention group, after the intervention, the added salt decreased by 5%; food sources of salt such as the snacks and pizza group decreased by 7%, and the meat, fish and eggs group increased by 4%, but without statistical significance. (4) Conclusions: With innovative equipment for dosing salt when cooking, it is possible to change some dimensions of consumer behavior in relation to salt.

Prevention and control of hypertension and cerebro-cardiovascular diseases are associated with adequate sodium and potassium intake and adherence to a Mediterranean dietary pattern. The aim of this study was to assess the association between adherence to a Mediterranean diet (MD) and the excretion of sodium and potassium as surrogate measures of intake. This is a cross-sectional analysis as part of a larger study (the iMC SALT randomized controlled trial) among workers of a public university. A food frequency questionnaire was used to assess the adherence to MD, using the alternative Mediterranean diet (aMED) score; sodium and potassium excretions were estimated by 24-h urine collections. Sociodemographic and other lifestyle characteristics were also obtained. The associations between the adherence to MD and Na and K excretion were calculated by logistic regression, adjusting for confounding variables. From the 109 selected participants, seven were excluded considering urine screening and completeness criteria, leaving a final sample of 102 subjects (48% male, average age 47 years). Mean sodium and potassium excretion were 3216 mg/day and 2646 mg/day, respectively. Sodium and potassium excretion were significantly higher in men, but no differences were found according to different levels of MD adherence. In logistic regression analysis, sodium, potassium, and sodium-to-potassium ratio urinary excretion tertiles were not associated with MD adherence (low/moderate versus high), even after adjustment for confounding variables. A high adherence to MD was thus not associated with a different level of sodium and potassium intake.