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Sodium is a mineral naturally found in many foods, such as meat, fish, and vegetables. It’s also found in table salt, which is made of 40% sodium and 60% another mineral called chloride.

Sodium is essential to health and is necessary for blood pressure regulation, muscle contraction, maintenance of fluid balance, and more.

Though the body requires sodium, most people take in too much sodium daily, which can lead to health issues like high blood pressure and elevate the risk of heart disease.

Here’s everything you need to know about sodium, including how it benefits health, dietary sources, daily needs, and the downsides of consuming too much.

Your body needs a small amount of sodium to perform vital processes. Sodium is one of the body’s most important electrolytes (minerals with an electric charge). Electrolytes regulate fluid and blood volume, support nerve function, maintain normal heart rhythm, and play many other critical roles in your health.

Sodium levels are tightly regulated to maintain a blood level of 135-145 milliequivalents per liter (mEq/L). Your body maintains this delicate balance by excreting extra sodium through urine, sweat, and feces when levels are high and signaling the kidneys to retain sodium when levels are low.

Necessary for Vital Functions

Sodium is an essential nutrient, meaning you can’t survive without it. It’s required for life-sustaining processes such as fluid balance and muscle and nerve function.

Sodium is also needed for cellular homeostasis, which is the maintenance of a stable cellular environment. When sodium levels get too high or too low, cells can’t function properly, and systems will malfunction.

Fortunately, sodium is found in many foods and added to the diet through table salt. Most people have no issue meeting their body’s daily sodium requirement, which is less than 500 milligrams (mg). The average person in the United States consumes 3,400 mg of sodium per day, far exceeding their body’s needs.

May Be Required in Certain Circumstances

Though most people consume plenty of sodium daily—much more than their bodies need—certain people require more sodium due to medical conditions or excessive fluid loss.

For example, people with hyponatremia (low sodium levels), defined as a sodium concentration of less than 135 mEq/L, are treated with intravenous sodium or oral salt tablets in medical settings. Low sodium levels can be caused by a number of health conditions, including chronic diarrhea, kidney disease, liver failure, and the use of certain medications and illicit drugs.

People who experience excessive fluid loss through sweating, such as endurance athletes, those performing high-intensity activities, and people working in extreme heat, may require supplemental sodium to maintain optimal sodium balance. For example, marathon runners often consume sodium-containing products such as electrolyte gels and drinks to maintain their sodium levels.

Although certain people may require extra sodium, most healthy individuals have no issue maintaining optimal sodium levels and don’t require additional sodium in their diets or in supplemental form.

As mentioned above, the sodium required for normal physiologic functioning is around 500 mg daily. Most people consume over 3,000 mg of sodium daily. Because excessive sodium intake is linked to serious health concerns such as hypertension (high blood pressure), heart disease, stroke, and bone conditions like osteoporosis (bone weakening), health organizations have set ideal daily sodium intake recommendations.

The Daily Value (DV) for sodium is less than 2,300 mg daily for ages 14 and up. This is more than enough to cover your body’s daily needs and maintain optimal sodium levels.

Children need less sodium than teens and adults. Here are the daily sodium recommendations for children ages 1 to 13:

  • Children 1-3 years: Up to 1,200 mg a day
  • Children 4-8 years: Up to 1,500 mg a day
  • Children 9-13 years: Up to 1,800 mg a day

It’s recommended that people with certain health conditions, like high blood pressure and kidney disease, restrict their sodium intake even further. The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that people with high blood pressure limit their sodium intake to less than 1,500 mg daily.

Most people consume far too much sodium on a daily basis. Though most people assume that table salt added to food is the largest contributor to sodium intake, most of the sodium in the average American diet comes from salt in processed foods and restaurant food.

Salt is added to these foods during manufacturing or cooking to enhance taste. For example, a single-serve bag of salted pretzels can contain over 1,000 mg of sodium, which is over 43% of the DV.

Here are the top dietary sources of sodium according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):

  • Breads and rolls
  • Pizza
  • Sandwiches
  • Cold cuts and cured meats
  • Soups
  • Burritos and tacos
  • Savory snacks like chips, pretzels, and crackers
  • Chicken
  • Cheese
  • Eggs and omelets

If your diet is high in ultra-processed foods or if you eat out at restaurants regularly, it’s very easy to exceed sodium intake recommendations.

For example, a McDonald’s Quarter-Pounder with Cheese and Bacon and a side of medium fries contains 1,730 mg of sodium, which is over 75% of the DV.

Though sodium is naturally found in foods like milk, meat, fish, and vegetables, naturally derived sodium isn’t a concern for most people. It’s hard to exceed the sodium DV unless you’re consuming foods containing added salt or using table salt.

One teaspoon (tsp) of table salt contains 2,300 mg of sodium. Therefore, if you use a lot of salt when cooking or add salt to your food before eating, you’re more likely to exceed daily sodium intake recommendations.

Though sodium is necessary for health, consuming too much sodium through high-salt foods can significantly harm health and increase disease risk.

For example, high-salt diets are known to increase the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, kidney stones, osteoporosis, and kidney disease. Consuming high amounts of sodium leads to elevated sodium levels in the body, which causes the body to retain water. This increases blood pressure and puts extra stress on the kidneys. Excess sodium also harms bone health by increasing urinary calcium excretion, weakening the bones.

Consuming too much salt may also increase the risk of stomach cancer by stimulating the production of inflammatory proteins and damaging cells in the gastrointestinal tract.

A 2020 review of 36 studies found that high sodium intake significantly increased heart disease risk by 19% compared to low sodium intake. The review also found that heart disease risk increased by up to 6% for every 1,000 mg (1 g) increase in dietary sodium intake.

Research also shows that people with long-term high salt intake may be 29% more likely to develop impaired kidney function than people with lower salt intake.

Certain drugs may increase the risk of hyponatremia or low sodium levels by increasing sodium excretion through the urine. For example, diuretics, and some anti-seizure medications may increase the risk of low sodium levels.

Eating too much sodium may also lead to low levels of other nutrients in the body. Diets too high in sodium cause your body to excrete calcium, which can harm bone health.

Sodium is a mineral essential to health. It’s required for vital processes such as blood pressure regulation and nerve function. While the body needs a small amount of sodium daily, many people in the United States consume far too much from salty snack foods, take-out meals, and other high-sodium foods.

Consuming excess sodium harms health and significantly increases the risk of developing several health conditions, such as kidney disease and heart disease. Reducing your sodium intake by cutting back on high-salt foods and table salt is an easy and effective way to protect your health.



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