Daily Sodium Intake Limit Checker

Daily sodium limit: WHO recommends <2 g (≈ 5 g of salt)

For adults, the WHO puts the ceiling at less than 5 g of salt a day. That works out to 2 g (2,000 mg) of sodium, roughly one teaspoon of salt. To go from one to the other, use sodium (mg) = salt (g) × 400. Example: a meal built around 3 g of salt already carries 1,200 mg of sodium, which is 60% of your whole day spent on one plate. The average in Brazil sits at 9+ g of salt/day (Vigitel 2023), close to twice what's advised. Hypertension (HTN) tops the list of predictors for cardiovascular death worldwide, and of the dietary factors you can actually change, sodium is the big one. Where does it hide? Hidden sodium lives in processed meats, snacks, packaged bread, cheeses, instant noodles, broths and sauces. Those account for most of what you eat, while the salt shaker is a minor player. One caution: hyponatremia (Na < 135 mEq/L) is a clinical problem that almost never comes from eating too little. The usual culprits are SIADH, diuretics or drinking too much water, not cutting back on salt.

Applications: hypertension, heart failure, chronic kidney disease, public health

Keeping sodium in check sits at the heart of treating hypertension (DASH and Mediterranean diets), heart failure (HF) (often held to 2 g/day so the body retains less fluid), chronic kidney disease (CKD) (slows how fast it advances), cirrhosis with ascites, and staying ahead of trouble in otherwise healthy adults. On the policy side, ANVISA RDC 727/2022 requires packaged foods in Brazil to cut sodium by 25% by 2026, a move aimed at the whole population rather than the individual.

FAQ

Is pink salt or sea salt healthier? No. Every one of them runs about ~40% sodium by weight. The extra trace minerals barely register. The number that counts is how much you eat in total.

I sweat a lot training. Should I eat more salt? Endurance athletes who go >90 min shed 0.5–1.5 g of sodium an hour and may have to top it back up. If your sessions stay ≤60 min, or you're mostly sedentary, the regular limit still holds.

How do I read the food label? Take the sodium listed per serving and multiply it by how many servings you really put away. Past >400 mg per serving counts as high, and <140 mg counts as low (the FDA criterion, which Brazil leans on too).