Salt substitutes are low-sodium table salt

Edible salt

Salt, also known as table salt, or rock salt, is a mineral that is composed primarily of sodium chloride , a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of ionic salts. It is essential for animal life in small quantities, but is harmful to animals and plants in excess...

 alternatives marketed to circumvent the risk of high blood pressure

Hypertension

Hypertension or high blood pressure is a cardiac chronic medical condition in which the systemic arterial blood pressure is elevated. What that means is that the heart is having to work harder than it should to pump the blood around the body. Blood pressure involves two measurements, systolic and...

 and cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease

Heart disease or cardiovascular disease are the class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels . While the term technically refers to any disease that affects the cardiovascular system , it is usually used to refer to those related to atherosclerosis...

 associated with a high intake of sodium chloride

Sodium chloride

Sodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt or halite, is an inorganic compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms...

 while maintaining a similar taste. They usually contain mostly potassium chloride

Potassium chloride

The chemical compound potassium chloride is a metal halide salt composed of potassium and chlorine. In its pure state, it is odorless and has a white or colorless vitreous crystal appearance, with a crystal structure that cleaves easily in three directions. Potassium chloride crystals are...

, whose toxicity

Toxicity

Toxicity is the degree to which a substance can damage a living or non-living organisms. Toxicity can refer to the effect on a whole organism, such as an animal, bacterium, or plant, as well as the effect on a substructure of the organism, such as a cell or an organ , such as the liver...

 is approximately equal to that of table salt in a healthy person (the is about 2.5 g/kg, or approximately 190 g for a person weighing 75 kg). Potassium lactate

Potassium lactate

Potassium lactate is a compound with formula KC3H5O3, or H3C-CHOH-COOK. It is the potassium salt of lactic acid. It is produced by neutralizing lactic acid which is fermented from a sugar source. It has E number "E326"...

 may also be used to reduce sodium levels in food products. It is commonly used in meat and poultry products. The recommended daily allowance of potassium is higher than that for sodium, yet a typical person consumes less potassium than sodium in a given day. Seaweed

Seaweed

Seaweed is a loose, colloquial term encompassing macroscopic, multicellular, benthic marine algae. The term includes some members of the red, brown and green algae...

 granules are also marketed as alternatives to salt.

However, various diseases and medications may decrease the body's excretion of potassium, thereby increasing the risk of potentially fatal hyperkalemia

Hyperkalemia

Hyperkalemia refers to the condition in which the concentration of the electrolyte potassium in the blood is elevated...

. People with kidney failure, heart failure or diabetes should not use salt substitutes without medical advice. A manufacturer, LoSalt, has issued an advisory statement that people taking the following prescription drugs should not use a salt substitute: amiloride

Amiloride

Amiloride is a potassium-sparing diuretic, first approved for use in 1967 , used in the management of hypertension and congestive heart failure. Amiloride was also tested as treatment of cystic fibrosis, but it was revealed inefficient in vivo due to it's short time of action, therefore...

, triamterene, Dytac, captopril

Captopril

Captopril is an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor used for the treatment of hypertension and some types of congestive heart failure. Captopril was the first ACE inhibitor developed and was considered a breakthrough both because of its novel mechanism of action and also because of the...

 & other angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, spironolactone

Spironolactone

Spironolactone , commonly referred to as simply spiro, is a diuretic and is used as an antiandrogen.It is a synthetic 17-lactone drug that is a renal competitive aldosterone antagonist in a class of pharmaceuticals called...

, aldactone, eplerenone

Eplerenone

Eplerenone is an aldosterone antagonist used as an adjunct in the management of chronic heart failure. It is similar to the diuretic spironolactone, though it may be more specific for the mineralocorticoid receptor and is specifically marketed for reducing cardiovascular risk in patients...

, and Inspra.

Hydrolyzed protein

Hydrolyzed protein

Hydrolyzed protein is protein that has been hydrolyzed or broken down into its component amino acids. While there are many means of achieving this, two of the most common are prolonged boiling in a strong acid or strong base or using an enzyme such as the pancreatic protease enzyme to stimulate...

 or 5'-nucleotides are sometimes added to potassium chloride to improve the flavour of salt substitutes.

Potassium chloride may have a metallic taste to some.