How Much Sodium Is Too Much?

Updated July 2026

If you've been told to cut back on salt, you're not alone — and if you've found it surprisingly hard, that isn't your fault. Most of the sodium we eat is hidden long before we reach for a salt shaker. Here's how much you actually need, why it matters so much for blood pressure, where it's hiding, and how our bodies ended up so sensitive to it in the first place.

How much sodium should you eat a day?

Aim for less than 2,300 mg a day in total — about a teaspoon of salt — and ideally closer to 1,500 mg if you have high blood pressure or trend toward it. And that's not just what you're sprinkling on – it includes what's already in the food. The average American takes in around 3,400 mg, well past either threshold.

And lest you think every bottle of water you drink needs to be spiked with sodium because you work out, even people who are very active and lose sodium through sweat rarely need more than 1,500 mg in a day.

Why does sodium raise blood pressure?

Because sodium pulls water into your bloodstream. Extra sodium holds extra water inside your blood vessels, which raises blood volume and pushes blood pressure readings up. Higher blood pressure for longer means more wear and tear on your artery walls, faster plaque buildup, and a greater risk of heart attack and stroke. All that retained fluid can also pool in your tissues causing ankle swelling known as edema. In anyone with a weakened heart, the added volume strains an already-struggling pump and can back fluid up into the lungs. That's why people with heart failure need to be especially strict about sodium intake.

Where is all the sodium hiding?

Mostly in food you never salted yourself. Only about 5% of the sodium Americans eat is added while cooking, and another 5% or so at the table. That means more than 70% of the sodium you are consuming is already built into restaurant, packaged, and processed foods – well before you touch a shaker. So "I never add salt" is unfortunately not a reliable sign you're in the clear.

The biggest sources of sodium are not always the most salty-tasting: breads and rolls, cold cuts and cured meats, pizza, poultry, soups, sandwiches, cheese, pasta and meat dishes. A sandwich that looks like a healthy choice can be a genuine salt bomb: bread (salt), low fat sliced turkey (salt), low fat cheese (salt), mustard (salt), low fat mayo (salt), sweet pickles (salt), pretzels (salt). Even drinks can contribute — a cup of Gatorade has about 110 mg. The only way to truly know is to read the nutrition panel. The foods worth cutting goes deeper on this.

How much difference does cutting sodium really make?

More than you'd guess — and human history makes the case. For most of our existence we ate less than 500 mg of sodium a day, almost entirely from plants, and our bodies became experts at hoarding every bit of it. Then we learned to preserve food with salt, and blood pressures across populations began to climb.

The clearest proof comes from the few people who never made that switch: the Yanomami of the Amazon have the lowest salt intake ever recorded, and their blood pressure stays around 100/60 for their entire lives — with essentially no hypertension. Compare that with roughly 38% of other Brazilians who do have elevated BPs.

Meanwhile, back in the 1940s, before blood-pressure drugs even existed, Dr. Walter Kempner brought patients with pressures as high as 210/140 down toward 80/60 on nothing but rice and fruit. The point isn't to live on rice and fruit — it's that what you eat, and especially sodium content, has enormous power over your blood pressure.

What's the easiest way to eat less sodium?

Start with packaged and restaurant food, not your salt shaker. Cook more at home where you control the salt, read and compare labels, and watch the sneaky sources — bread, deli meat, soup, cheese, and sauces. Season with herbs, spices, citrus, and garlic instead of salt, and your palate will adjust within a couple of weeks. The 2025 guideline also points to potassium-based salt substitutes as a helpful swap for many people, though I personally find these substitutes bitter, and anyone with kidney disease should definitely check with their doctor first. My full playbook is in how to cut back on salt without hating your food, and it's worth understanding where all that sodium actually comes from and why processors add so much of it in the first place. Just as important is getting enough potassium, the mineral that works against sodium in the body.

Where does Step One fit in?

One of the simplest ways to pull sodium out of your day is to make a couple of your meals essentially sodium-free. That's exactly how we build our foods: no added salt and the lowest sodium possible, with nine of our twelve products containing essentially no sodium at all (5 mg or less per serving). If you've been told to cut back, they're an easy place to start. For the rest of the picture, see what should my blood pressure be and how to lower it.

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