Why We Need It
Sodium is a mineral that the body needs in small amounts. It is found in foods mostly as sodium chloride, which is another name for table salt. One teaspoon of salt contains approximately 2,300 milligrams (mg) of sodium.
Small amounts of sodium are needed to maintain the right balance of body fluids. It also helps transmit nerve impulses, helps regulate blood pressure, and influences the contraction and relaxation of muscles, including the heart.
Sodium & High Blood Pressure
About one in three Americans has high blood pressure, which increases their risk of having a heart attack, stroke, chronic heart failure, and kidney disease. Many people eat more sodium (salt) than necessary, and cutting back can reduce high blood pressure (hypertension).
It is not known who will develop high blood pressure. A high salt intake can increase the chance of having high blood pressure. Additional risk factors include having other family members with high blood pressure, being overweight, physical inactivity, unhealthy eating habits, and advancing in age.
The body needs only a small amount of sodium. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends eating only one teaspoon of salt per day. This is approximately 2,300 mg of sodium. Most Americans consume an average of more than 3,400 mg of sodium a day.
The following groups of people should consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day: African Americans, people over fifty years of age, and people with chronic diseases (e.g. diabetes, high blood pressure and kidney disease).
Recommended Daily Intakes of Sodium
|birth to 6 months||110|
|7 to 12 months||370|
|1 to 3 years||800|
|4 to 8 years||1000|
|9 to 13 years old||1200|
|14-18 years old||1500|
|19 to over 70 years old||1,500|
|mg = milligrams
Source: adapted from the Dietary Reference Intakes series, National Academies Press. Copyright 2019 by the National Academy of Sciences
Sodium occurs naturally in many foods and is also added in processing. Many restaurant foods are very high in sodium. Most of the sodium added to foods comes from salt. In fact, about one-third of the sodium in our diets is from salt we use in cooking or add at the table.
Sodium also is found in other ingredients and food additives, so eat these foods less often: processed cheeses; salted, smoked, or cured meats; pickled or canned fish; canned soups and meats; pickles, sauerkraut, and relishes; salty snacks and crackers; and condiments (e.g. catsup, mustard, steak sauce, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, chile sauce, gravies, marinades, and salad dressings). Check their nutrition labels.
Ways to Reduce Sodium
It is important to keep the amount of sodium in your diet at a healthy level. This level is affected by the foods you choose and the ways you prepare and serve them.
The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that you choose and prepare foods with little salt. At the same time, you should eat potassium-rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables.
To cut back on sodium, choose low sodium foods more often. If you eat a high sodium food, balance it with low sodium foods. Use the salt shaker less often, and never salt food before tasting it.
Eliminate or reduce these foods in your diet:
- cured or processed meats (e.g. ham, bacon, sausage, frankfurters, luncheon meats)
- canned vegetables or frozen veggies with sauce
- commercially prepared meals (e.g. TV dinners, package mixes), main dishes, or canned or dried soups
- cheese or foods with lots of cheese (e.g. pizza, macaroni and cheese)
- salted nuts, popcorn, pretzels, corn chips, potato chips
- seasoning mixes, salad dressings, or condiments (e.g. soy sauce, steak sauce, catsup, and mustard)
Read the Label
Food labels can help you keep your sodium intake to one teaspoon per day. Most packaged foods must have nutrition and ingredient information on the label. The amount of sodium per serving must be included on the nutrition portion of the label
Nutrition information is given in a table called Nutrition Facts, which gives the amount of sodium in milligrams per serving and as a percent of the Daily Value. This information allows you to compare the amount of sodium in different brands of the same food.
In this updated Nutrition Facts label, one serving of the food or 2/3 cup contains 160mg of sodium. This is 7% of the Daily Value for sodium. Note that packages often contain more than one serving of a food item. If you plan to eat two servings of a food, you will get twice the sodium listed on the label.
Food Label Claims
If a food label says a food is “sodium free” or “low sodium,” what does this mean? The table below shows nutrition claims allowed on food labels.
Nutrient Claims About Sodium on Food Labels
|Label||Sodium per Serving|
|Salt/Sodium free||5 mg or less|
|Very low sodium||35 mg or less|
|Low sodium||140 mg or less|
|Reduced or less sodium||Sodium reduced by 25%
|Light in sodium/lightly salted||50% less sodium than the
|No salt added, unsalted||No salt added during
processing; but product may
still contain sodium naturally
|*restricted to foods with more than 40 calories per serving or more than 3 grams of fat per serving|
Cooking With Less Sodium
Salt provides flavor and helps preserve food. However, Americans eat much more than is needed. Here are some ways to cut back on sodium:
- Use more fresh foods and less canned foods. Processed foods tend to be higher in sodium than fresh foods.
- Try some packaged foods labeled “low sodium,” “very low sodium,” “reduced sodium,” or “less sodium.”
- Try new low sodium recipes.
- Some recipes don’t really need any salt!
- Gradually cut down on the salt in your favorite recipes. Use less salt every time you make the recipe.
- Reduce salt used in cooking pasta, rice, noodles and hot cereal. Try cutting the salt in half at first. Then see if you can use no salt at all in these foods.
- Use spices and herbs, lemon juice, or lime juice instead of salt. For specific examples, refer to Low-Sodium Seasonings.
Low-Sodium Seasonings: To keep your food tasty, cut down on added salt slowly and cook with herbs and spices. Even if you are a salt lover, you will soon lose the desire for salty foods.
|For These Foods:||Season With:|
|pot roast or meatloaf||allspice, garlic,
|fish||chives, dill, tarragon|
tarragon, garlic powder
|soups||curry powder, ginger|
|pastas||poppy seeds, savory,basil|
|tomatoes or tomato sauces||basil, oregano|
|rice or bulgur||basil, curry powder,
|cooked cabbage, broccoli,
|caraway seeds, curry
|cooked carrots or beets||caraway seeds, cloves|
|cooked green beans, lima
beans or peas
Special Herb & Spice Combinations: Start with equal amounts of each herb or spice (except hot pepper!) and adjust to suit your taste.
Barbecue Blend: cumin, garlic, hot pepper, oregano
Italian Blend: basil, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage, savory, thyme
Egg Herbs: basil, dill weed (leaves), garlic, parsley, fines herbes (mixture of chopped herbs)
Salad Herbs: basil, parsley, tarragon
For More Information
For related information on sodium in your diet, refer to HGIC 4054, Halt Salt! The Health Extension Agent at your county Extension office may have more written information and nutrition classes for you to attend. Also, your doctor, health care provider, or a registered dietitian (RD) can provide reliable information.
Reliable nutrition information may be found on the Internet at the following sites:
- Bobroff, Linda B. University of Florida Extension. Nutrition for Health and Fitness: Sodium in Your Diet. October 2002, October 2010, August 2012, and January 2018. https://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/HE696
- Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. “Use the Nutrition Facts Label to Reduce Your Sodium Intake.” S. Food and Drug Administration, FDA, www.fda.gov/food/nutrition-education-resources-materials/use-nutrition-facts-label-reduce-your-intake-sodium-your-diet.
- “Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2015–2020 8th Edition.” 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines, health.gov/dietaryguidelines/2015/guidelines/.
- Sciences, National Academies of, et al. “Sodium: Dietary Reference Intakes for Adequacy.” Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium., U.S. National Library of Medicine, 5 Mar. 2019, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK545436/.
Originally published 07/07