How Much Sodium Should I Consume Per Day?

Are you a person who craves salty packaged foods like crisps or pretzels? If so, you might be one of the millions of people who consume too much sodium. According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 90 percent of us get too much of the mineral.

While sodium is an essential nutrient, excess consumption is linked to a higher risk of high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. So it is important to find out where salt is hiding in your diet and how to reduce your sodium intake.

Your body needs a small amount of sodium to function. You need about 500mg per day to maintain healthy blood pressure and to support the work of your nerves and muscles. As an electrolyte, sodium also helps to regulate how much fluid we have around our cells.

Having too little sodium in your bloodstream can lead to hyponatraemia. This is a condition that is sometimes seen in endurance athletes and others who consume a lot of fluids, such as runners. Hyponatraemia is characterised by nausea, confusion and extreme fatigue. But very few of us are at risk for sodium deficiency.

As part of a healthy eating pattern, the 2020–2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that we consume less than 2,300mg of sodium each day. The American Heart Association takes that guideline a step further, suggesting that an ideal limit is no more than 1,500mg per day for most adults. People who have conditions including kidney disease and hypertension need to be especially careful with their sodium intake.

To put the guideline into perspective, it might be helpful to visualise the sodium recommendation in a more familiar measurement. A teaspoon of salt contains about 2,325mg of sodium. But that doesn't mean you can consume a whole teaspoon of table salt every day. In fact, most of the sodium we consume is already in the foods that we eat.

The average American consumes about 3,400mg of sodium every day. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, over 70 percent of that sodium comes from eating packaged and prepared foods—not from table salt added to food when cooking or eating.

So while you can set aside the salt shaker, that may not be enough to reduce your daily sodium intake to recommended levels. Instead, you'll need to learn how to read the packaging and find hidden sodium in food.

Sodium Labels on Food

The Nutrition label on packaging is your first line of defence when you're trying to eliminate unwanted sodium. The information indicates the amount of sodium in a single serving of the food and the percentage in terms of daily reference intake.

Reference intake or RI is the recommended amount of a nutrient to consume. The RI for sodium is 2,400mg. So if a food contains 600mg of sodium, then it would provide 25% of the reference intake (RI) of sodium if you eat just one serving.

However, bear in mind that the sodium amount listed on the Nutrition label includes all types of sodium, not just salt. Table salt is a combination of sodium and chloride. Other food additives, including monosodium glutamate (MSG), sodium bicarbonate (baking powder), sodium nitrite and sodium benzoate also contain sodium. If a food contains any of these ingredients, then they contribute to the total amount of sodium listed on the Nutrition label.

High-Sodium Foods

Many ready-made and ready-to-eat convenience foods are high in sodium—and it's not just foods that you might consider to be salty. Of course, sodium is used to flavour food, but it is also used to retain moisture in foods and as a food preservative. So you might find sodium in sweet foods like baked goods or breakfast cereals.

Foods that are typically high in sodium include:

• Burgers
• Pre-packed sandwiches
• Egg dishes
• Deli meats
• Pizza
• Prepared pasta dishes
• Prepared snacks such as crisps, crackers or popcorn
• Poultry
• Soups
• Sausages

Low-Sodium Foods

Foods in their natural, whole form (such as whole fruits, whole vegetables, unprocessed grains, etc.) are likely to be lower in sodium than their prepared counterparts. For example, while corn on the cob contains some sodium naturally, it is likely to have far less sodium than tinned sweetcorn. So, looking for foods in their most natural form can help you cut back on salt.

For packaged and prepared foods, you can look at packaging labels to help you find foods that are lower in sodium. But the words used on food labels can be tricky. To help you sort through the terms, take a look at these descriptions used by the FDA and regulated by the US government.

• Salt-free or sodium-free: Contains less than 5mg of sodium per serving

• Very low-sodium: Contains 35mg of sodium or less per serving

• Low-sodium: Contains 140mg of sodium or less per serving

• Reduced sodium: Contains at least 25% less sodium than the regular product

• Light in sodium or lightly salted: Contains at least 50% less sodium than the regular product

• No-salt-added or unsalted: No salt is added during processing, but these products may not be salt/sodium-free unless stated

Reducing your total daily sodium intake can improve your health. In fact, the American Heart Association suggests that reducing your intake by just 1,000mg per day can significantly improve blood pressure and heart health.

Reading food labels and making careful choices at the supermarket is one way to reach that goal. Use these other tips to cut back on sodium and support good health.

• Cook at home with natural ingredients. Restaurant foods and convenience foods are higher in sodium. Try to prepare your foods at home with fewer ready-made ingredients.

• Shop in the fresh product section of the supermarket. Try to buy fresh vegetables rather than tinned or frozen varieties with added salt. If you opt for packaged varieties, look for those that do not have salt added.

• Rinse tinned foods before adding them to recipes. Foods like tinned beans or olives tend to be high in sodium. Simply rinsing them off can help to reduce your salt intake.

• Flavour your food without salt. Use fresh herbs or citrus to add flavour to your food. Try to avoid high-sodium condiments like mustard and ketchup. You might also try a salt alternative, but read the label carefully as many contain sodium.

Lastly, you may consider including more high-potassium foods in your diet. Foods like bananas, sweet potatoes, broccoli and spinach provide this important mineral. According to the CDC, increasing the amount of potassium in your diet while decreasing the amount of sodium you consume might help lower your blood pressure and reduce your risk of stroke.