Most health authorities recommend no more than 5 grams of salt per day for adults, which equals about one teaspoon. That’s roughly 2,000 milligrams of sodium. The American Heart Association sets the bar even lower, suggesting an ideal target of 1,500 milligrams of sodium (about 3.75 grams of salt) for most adults, with an upper ceiling of 2,300 milligrams.
Those numbers probably feel abstract until you realize how quickly sodium adds up in everyday food. Here’s what the recommendations actually mean in practice and why the range matters.
Salt vs. Sodium: A Quick Conversion
Food labels list sodium, not salt, which causes confusion. Table salt is about 40% sodium by weight, so you multiply sodium in milligrams by 2.5 to get the equivalent amount of salt. That means 2,000 mg of sodium equals 5 grams of salt, and 2,300 mg of sodium equals roughly 5.75 grams. When you’re scanning a nutrition label, the sodium number is the one that matters for tracking your daily total.
What the Major Guidelines Say
The World Health Organization recommends less than 5 grams of salt per day (under 2,000 mg sodium) for adults. For children aged 2 to 15, the WHO advises scaling that limit down based on the child’s calorie needs.
The American Heart Association goes further, recommending no more than 2,300 mg of sodium daily with an optimal goal of 1,500 mg for most adults. Their reasoning: cutting back by even 1,000 mg a day can meaningfully improve blood pressure and heart health. The DASH eating plan, developed by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, uses 2,300 mg as its standard sodium target and notes that dropping to 1,500 mg lowers blood pressure even more.
How Most People Actually Eat
Average intake worldwide far exceeds these recommendations. Most adults consume somewhere between 9 and 12 grams of salt per day, nearly double the WHO limit. In the United States, the average hovers around 3,400 mg of sodium daily (about 8.5 grams of salt). The gap between guidelines and reality is so large that the FDA has taken a phased approach to closing it. In 2024, the agency issued voluntary targets for food manufacturers that would, if adopted, reduce average sodium intake to about 2,750 mg per day. That’s still above the 2,300 mg recommendation, but represents roughly a 20% drop from previous levels. The FDA acknowledged that reformulating processed foods takes time and involves technical limitations.
Where the Sodium Hides
Only about 10 to 15% of the sodium most people eat comes from their salt shaker. The vast majority, around 70 to 75%, comes from processed, packaged, and restaurant foods. Bread is a good example of how this sneaks up on you: a single slice contains 150 to 250 mg of sodium. Two slices for a sandwich gets you to 300 to 500 mg before you’ve added any filling. Deli meats, canned soups, frozen meals, cheese, condiments, and sauces are other common sources. Even foods that don’t taste salty, like breakfast cereals and cottage cheese, can carry significant sodium loads.
This is why tracking sodium is tricky without reading labels. A restaurant meal can easily deliver 1,500 to 2,000 mg of sodium in a single sitting.
Why Sodium Affects Blood Pressure
When you eat more sodium than your body needs, your kidneys hold onto extra water to dilute it. That additional fluid increases the volume of blood moving through your vessels, which raises pressure against artery walls. Over time, this sustained pressure damages blood vessels and forces your heart to work harder. Beyond fluid retention, excess sodium also triggers inflammation and constriction of blood vessels, compounding the effect. These mechanisms together explain why high-sodium diets are so consistently linked to hypertension, stroke, and heart disease.
Can You Eat Too Little Salt?
Yes. Sodium is an essential nutrient, and your body needs it to transmit nerve signals, contract muscles, and maintain fluid balance. A large study published through CardioSmart found that sodium intake below 3,000 mg per day was associated with a 26 to 34% greater risk of cardiovascular events and death compared to moderate intake of 4,000 to 5,000 mg per day. This held true for people both with and without high blood pressure.
This finding creates an apparent tension with official guidelines, which recommend staying under 2,300 mg. The reality is that most people are nowhere near the floor of too-little sodium. Going dangerously low typically requires a combination of very restrictive eating, heavy sweating, and certain medications like diuretics. For the average person eating a normal diet, the practical risk is overwhelmingly on the side of too much, not too little.
Athletes and Heavy Sweaters
People who exercise intensely for prolonged periods lose significant sodium through sweat and need to replace it deliberately. For heavy sweat losses during long runs, rides, or races, the general guidance is about 1 gram of sodium per hour of activity. Sports drinks, electrolyte tablets, and salty snacks during extended exercise can help maintain performance and prevent a dangerous drop in blood sodium levels. This is one context where the usual “eat less sodium” advice doesn’t apply.
Practical Ways to Reduce Sodium
The most effective strategy is cooking more meals at home, where you control what goes in. When you do buy packaged foods, compare labels within the same category. Sodium content varies dramatically between brands of the same product. Choosing “low sodium” or “no salt added” versions of canned vegetables, beans, broth, and sauces can cut hundreds of milligrams from a single meal.
Rinsing canned beans and vegetables under water removes roughly 40% of the added sodium. Seasoning with herbs, spices, citrus, and vinegar instead of salt builds flavor without the sodium. Your taste buds adjust within a few weeks of eating less salt, so foods that initially taste bland start to taste normal. Restaurant portions are harder to control, but asking for sauces on the side and choosing grilled over fried options helps.
If you’re aiming for the 1,500 mg target, you’ll likely need to be deliberate about label reading and home cooking. At the 2,300 mg level, small swaps like choosing fresh or frozen vegetables over canned, and limiting processed meats to a few times a week, can get most people close without overhauling their entire diet.