Most adults should consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, which is roughly one teaspoon of table salt. The World Health Organization sets the bar slightly lower at 2,000 mg per day, while the American Heart Association recommends an ideal limit of 1,500 mg for all adults. Where you fall in that range depends on your age, health conditions, and risk factors.
Recommended Limits by Age Group
For most healthy adults, the U.S. Dietary Guidelines cap sodium at 2,300 mg per day. That number drops to 1,500 mg if you have high blood pressure, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease, or if you’re over 51. The American Heart Association goes further, recommending 1,500 mg as the ideal target for everyone, not just high-risk groups.
Children need considerably less:
- Ages 1 to 3: less than 1,200 mg
- Ages 4 to 8: less than 1,500 mg
- Ages 9 to 13: less than 1,800 mg
- Ages 14 to 18: less than 2,300 mg
Your body actually needs very little sodium to function. A healthy, active adult requires only 200 to 500 mg per day for basic physiological processes like nerve signaling, muscle contraction, and fluid balance. Everything above that amount is extra, and most people consume far more than any guideline recommends.
How Sodium Affects Blood Pressure
When you eat more salt, your body retains more fluid and your heart pumps a greater volume of blood. In most people, blood vessels respond by relaxing and widening, which offsets the extra cardiac output and keeps blood pressure stable. This is why some people can eat salty meals without any noticeable spike in blood pressure.
But in people who are “salt-sensitive,” that compensating mechanism doesn’t work properly. Their blood vessels fail to relax enough in response to higher salt intake, and the result is elevated blood pressure. This happens because high sodium concentrations stiffen the cells lining blood vessel walls, which reduces their ability to produce the signals that trigger relaxation. The blood vessel dysfunction actually begins before blood pressure rises, meaning the damage starts silently. Over time, consistently high sodium intake raises the risk of heart disease and stroke, the two leading causes of death in the United States.
Where the Sodium Actually Comes From
The salt shaker on your table isn’t the main problem. About 44% of the sodium in the average diet comes from just 10 categories of food, and most of them don’t taste particularly salty. The biggest contributors, according to CDC data: breads and rolls, cold cuts and cured meats, pizza, poultry (both fresh and processed), soups, sandwiches like cheeseburgers, cheese, pasta dishes, meat-mixed dishes like meatloaf, and salty snacks like chips and pretzels.
Bread is a good example of how sodium sneaks in. A single slice might contain only 100 to 200 mg, but if you’re eating bread at every meal, it adds up fast. Soups are another quiet source. A single can of condensed soup often contains more than 1,500 mg, close to an entire day’s ideal limit. The pattern across all these foods is the same: sodium is added during manufacturing for flavor, texture, and preservation, not at your kitchen table.
Understanding Labels and Measurements
Sodium and salt are not the same thing, which creates confusion when you’re reading labels. Table salt is sodium chloride, and it’s about 40% sodium by weight. One teaspoon of salt weighs roughly 6 grams and contains about 2,400 mg of sodium. So when a guideline says “less than 2,300 mg of sodium,” that translates to just under one teaspoon of salt for the entire day, from all sources combined.
Nutrition labels in the U.S. list sodium in milligrams per serving. The simplest approach is to check the “% Daily Value” column, which is based on a 2,300 mg daily limit. A food with 20% or more per serving is considered high in sodium. If you’re aiming for the 1,500 mg target, those percentages understate the real impact on your daily budget by about a third.
Practical Ways to Reduce Intake
Since most sodium comes from packaged and restaurant food, the most effective strategy is shifting toward meals you prepare yourself with whole ingredients. Fresh vegetables, fruits, unprocessed grains, and unseasoned meats are all naturally low in sodium. When you do buy packaged food, comparing brands matters. Two nearly identical cans of tomato sauce can differ by hundreds of milligrams per serving.
Rinsing canned beans, vegetables, and even canned tuna under water for about 30 seconds removes a meaningful portion of added sodium. Swapping soy sauce for lower-sodium versions, using acid (lemon juice, vinegar) to brighten flavors instead of salt, and seasoning with spices, garlic, and herbs all help reduce your total intake without making food bland. Most people find that after two to three weeks of eating less sodium, their taste buds adjust and previously normal-tasting food starts to taste oversalted.
Potassium also plays a role. It helps your kidneys excrete excess sodium and relaxes blood vessel walls. Foods rich in potassium, like bananas, potatoes, spinach, and beans, work alongside sodium reduction to support healthy blood pressure. Focusing on both sides of that equation is more effective than watching sodium alone.