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Sodium is an important mineral used by our body to maintain a proper balance between water and minerals, to conduct nerve impulses, and to contract and relax our muscles. 

The good news is that we don’t need that much of it, according to the American Heart Association, most of us use less than 500 mg/day, an amount that we can reach through a balanced whole-foods, plant-based diet. The bad news is that most of us are getting too much, an average of 3,393 mg/day (ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 mg/day) through salt and other food additives like soy sauce or baking soda and powder.

Excess sodium can raise our blood pressure, stiffen our arteries and impair artery function. The higher our sodium intake is, the higher our risk of developing cardiovascular disease, heart failure and strokes. Other organs that get affected are our kidneys and our bones.

Since there is a higher risk of getting excess sodium than not getting enough, our page focuses on how to avoid high intakes. Our nutrition calculator, based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 also focuses on the highest sodium intakes that are considered safe for us based on our age and sex. And we will share important information that can help you limit your sodium intake and your family’s.

Sodium Amounts Found in Lightly Processed Foods

Even when we aim at following a whole-foods, plant-based diet, most of us live busy lives and oftentimes rely on products like the ones below to make our meals. These are typically lightly processed foods, with no artificial additives, and oftentimes organic ingredients. Still, they could have excessive amounts of sodium through added salt.

Always remember to read the nutrition labels before buying any processed foods. Pay attention to the serving amount listed as well, sometimes it may appear that the sodium amount is low until you realize the serving is only 1/3 or less of what you would actually eat.

Hover over each picture to discover the amounts of sodium provided by some common brands. Note that sometimes you can get “no salt” or “low sodium” versions that highly reduce sodium amounts.

Commercial Bread (1 slice)

Commercial Bread (1 slice)

Oroweat Whole Grains 100% Whole Wheat, 135 mg | Nature’s Own 100% Whole Wheat Bread, 110 mg | San Luis Sourdough, 230 mg | Dave’s Killer Bread Organic 21 Whole Grains and Seeds, 170 mg | Ezequiel 4:9, 75 mg

Link
Store-Bought Marinara Sauce (1/2 cup)

Store-Bought Marinara Sauce (1/2 cup)

Bertolli, 490 mg | 365 Organic No Fat Marinara, 410 mg | RAO’s, 340 mg | Muir Glen Tomato Basil (no sugar) 310 mg | Thrive Low Fodmap, 290 mg | Sprouts Organic Marinara No Salt, 30 mg

Link
Commercial Nut Butters (2 Tbs)

Commercial Nut Butters (2 Tbs)

Peanut Butter: Skippy Super Crunchy (125 mg) | Laura Scudders Old Fashioned Nutty (95 mg) | MaraNatha Organic (70 mg) | Jif Natural Crunchy Low Sodium (65 mg) | Santa Cruz Organic No Stir Crunchy Dark Roast (50 mg) | Once Again Crunchy No Salt Added (0 mg) \\ Sunflower Seed Butter: Sunbutter Organic (<5 mg) | Simple Truth Organic (125 mg) \\ Almond Butter: Thrive (0 mg) | Kirkland (0 mg) \\ Cashew Butter: 365 (0 mg) | Simple Truth Cashew Butter (0 mg)

Link
Canned Beans (1 can)

Canned Beans (1 can)

Bush’s Black Beans, 1350 mg | Goya Black Beans, 1,435 mg | Goya Black Beans Low Sodium, 473 mg | Simple Truth Organic Black Beans, 490 mg | 365 Organic Black Beans No Salt Added 17.5 mg | Eden Organic Black Beans with Kombu 52.5 mg

Link
Store-Bought Veggie Broth (1 cup)

Store-Bought Veggie Broth (1 cup)

Organics Vegetable Broth, 570 mg | Kettle and Fire, 480 mg | Simple Truth Low Sodium, 125 mg | Pacific Low Sodium, 125 mg | Bonafide no salt, 60 mg

Link
Commercial Tortillas (1 tortilla)

Commercial Tortillas (1 tortilla)

Mission Flour Tortilla Soft Taco (410 mg) | Mission Whole Wheat Original (380 mg) | Guerrero Flour Tortillas (250 mg) | Ezequiel 4:9 (125 mg) | Siete Almond Flour (110 mg) | La Tortilla Factory Yellow Corn and Wheat (190 mg) | Guerrero White Corn (20 mg) | Mi Rancho Organic Corn Tortillas (0 mg)

Link

Sodium Personalized Calculator

As opposed to other nutrients, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025 provides maximum intake recommendations or Chronic Disease Risk Reduction Intake (CDRR) for each age group above one year old. In addition to these numbers, we also provide Adequate Intake (AI) recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, and for reference purposes only, we include sodium intake recommendations in Australia were the amounts for children are lower.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that adults aim at a maximum of 2,000 mg/day and that children decrease these amounts based on their energy requirements. The American Heart Association indicates that most healthy adults should ideally aim at 1,500 mg/day.

These amounts are for information purposes only. Please talk to your doctor or pediatrician to determine the sodium intake amounts that are most suitable for you and your loved ones.

Terminology:

  • Daily Value (DV): The recommended amount of nutrients to consume each day for individuals who are 4 years old or older.
  • Adequate Intake (AI): Babies between 7 and 12 months old are the only age group who gets a sodium Adequate Intake amount, which is based on observed or experimentally determined approximations of healthy individuals.
  • Chronic Disease Risk Reduction Intake (CDRR): Amount recommended to reduce our sodium intake to in order to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, hypertension, systolic blood pressure, and diastolic blood pressure within an apparently healthy population.
  • Recommended Intake (RI) in Australia: Sodium intake recommendations in Victoria State, Australia to see as a reference.

Important Things to Know

Hover over each of the interesting facts below to flip the tiles and learn more details.

Check out the interesting facts below! Tap on the red triangles to flip the tiles and learn more details.

Flip to see how much sodium you get from adding salt to food.

About 10% of our sodium intake comes from the salt we add while cooking or at the table. 40% of our salt is sodium. These are the average amounts of sodium for table salt:

1/4 teaspoon salt = 575 mg sodium

1/2 teaspoon salt = 1,150 mg sodium

3/4 teaspoon salt = 1,725 mg sodium

1 teaspoon salt = 2,300 mg sodium

Soy sauce and other alternatives are very rich in sodium content.

Soy sauce, tamari, coconut aminos, liquid aminos… all these sauces have one thing in common: they are very high in sodium content! Though compared to salt, salt still takes the crown, the issue with these sauces is that we usually use higher volumes in recipes or as food additives like our rice or sushi. See the amounts below and consider using less in your recipes or skipping them completely.

1 Tbs soy sauce or tamari sauce = close to 1000 mg

1 Tbs 38% less sodium soy sauce = about 600 mg

1 Tbs 25% less sodium tamari = 700 mg

1 Tbs 50% less sodium tamari = about 500 mg

1 Tbs coconut aminos = 500 mg

1 Tbs liquid aminos = over 900 mg

66% of kids’ meals in restaurants contain over 1200 mg of sodium!

Top offenders include: pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos, burritos, cold cuts, cheese, pretzels, chips, chicken nuggets or tenders, and milk.

A high sodium intake raises the risk of developing high blood pressure in children and teens by 40%. High blood pressure can result in early development of heart disease and premature death, and it can also lead to having high blood pressure in adulthood.

Learn more here and here.

Vegan processed foods are also very high in sodium content.

Over 70% of our total sodium intake comes from processed foods, while only 10% comes from salt added while cooking at home or at the table, and 15% comes from what is naturally found in whole foods. See source.

Vegan processed foods can also have harmful ingredients, including high sodium amounts. Some examples include:

Vegan nuggets: 390 mg for 4 nuggets (Dino Yummy)

Vegan tenders: 400 mg for 2 tenders (Jack & Annie’s Crispy Vegan Jackfruit Tenders)

Vegan meatballs: 370 mg for 4 “meatballs” (Gardein)

Vegan burgers: 497 mg for 1 paddy (Impossible)

Even one meal with high sodium content can make our blood pressure rise.

Our body responds to high sodium intakes by retaining water, which then leads to high blood pressure as a way to push out excess liquid and sodium.

Even when our blood pressure is normal, if we have one meal high in sodium, our blood pressure will go up. So, always be mindful of your sodium intake, even when eating out or while traveling.

We need to ingest more potassium than sodium for healthy arteries.

Even if our blood pressure doesn’t rise in response to water retention, there’s another way sodium may affect our circulation: it may harden our endothelium or the inner cell layer of our blood vessels, preventing them from releasing nitric oxide, which they need to dilate and allow our blood to flow.

Instead, potassium increases the release of nitric oxide by softening our endothelium. So, for healthy arteries, we need to have a higher intake of potassium than sodium. See source.

Excess sodium damages our kidneys and impairs their function.

High sodium intake leads to water retention which results in high blood pressure that is meant to help excrete all the extra sodium. When we get older, all  that dealing with high blood pressure leads to damage in our kidneys and they become less efficient in getting rid of excess sodium. This leads to even higher blood pressure, that results in more damage in our kidneys, continuing a vicious cycle.

Sodium can also cause kidney stones. See next tile…

Reducing sodium intake may help reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

Excess sodium promotes calcium loss in our bones and increases calcium excretion through our kidneys. This may be due to sodium increasing our number of osteoclasts (the bone cells that remove old bone tissue) and reducing our number of osteoblasts (the bone cells that build new bone tissue in our body), thus releasing more calcium than they can make up for, leading to osteoporosis. Learn more.

The excess calcium that gets released goes to our kidneys for elimination, but such high amounts can lead to the development of kidney stones. Learn more.

It takes 2 weeks for our taste buds to adapt to foods with less or no salt.

After two weeks of eating foods with reduced or no salt, you will not only get used to them, you will also stop enjoying the salty foods. Give it a try!

By the way, the same thing happens with sugar or when we switch from dairy to plant-based milk. We can get used to new flavors all the time! We just need to give ourselves 2 weeks.

Flip to see how much sodium you get from adding salt to food.

About 10% of our sodium intake comes from the salt we add while cooking or at the table. 40% of our salt is sodium. These are the average amounts of sodium for table salt:

1/4 teaspoon salt = 575 mg sodium

1/2 teaspoon salt = 1,150 mg sodium

3/4 teaspoon salt = 1,725 mg sodium

1 teaspoon salt = 2,300 mg sodium

Soy sauce and other alternatives are very rich in sodium content.

Soy sauce, tamari, coconut aminos, liquid aminos… all these sauces have one thing in common: they are very high in sodium content! Though compared to salt, salt still takes the crown, the issue with these sauces is that we usually use higher volumes in recipes or as food additives like our rice or sushi. See the amounts below and consider using less in your recipes or skipping them completely.

1 Tbs soy sauce or tamari sauce = close to 1000 mg

1 Tbs 38% less sodium soy sauce = about 600 mg

1 Tbs 25% less sodium tamari = 700 mg

1 Tbs 50% less sodium tamari = about 500 mg

1 Tbs coconut aminos = 500 mg

1 Tbs liquid aminos = over 900 mg

66% of kids’ meals in restaurants contain over 1200 mg of sodium!

Top offenders include: pizza, hamburgers, hot dogs, tacos, burritos, cold cuts, cheese, pretzels, chips, chicken nuggets or tenders, and milk.

A high sodium intake raises the risk of developing high blood pressure in children and teens by 40%. High blood pressure can result in early development of heart disease and premature death, and it can also lead to having high blood pressure in adulthood.

Learn more here and here.

Vegan processed foods are also very high in sodium content.

Over 70% of our total sodium intake comes from processed foods, while only 10% comes from salt added while cooking at home or at the table, and 15% comes from what is naturally found in whole foods. See source.

Vegan processed foods can also have harmful ingredients, including high sodium amounts. Some examples include:

Vegan nuggets: 390 mg for 4 nuggets (Dino Yummy)

Vegan tenders: 400 mg for 2 tenders (Jack & Annie’s Crispy Vegan Jackfruit Tenders)

Vegan meatballs: 370 mg for 4 “meatballs” (Gardein)

Vegan burgers: 497 mg for 1 paddy (Impossible)

Even one meal with high sodium content can make our blood pressure rise.

Our body responds to high sodium intakes by retaining water, which then leads to high blood pressure as a way to push out excess liquid and sodium.

Even when our blood pressure is normal, if we have one meal high in sodium, our blood pressure will go up. So, always be mindful of your sodium intake, even when eating out or while traveling.

We need to ingest more potassium than sodium for healthy arteries.

Even if our blood pressure doesn’t rise in response to water retention, there’s another way sodium may affect our circulation: it may harden our endothelium or the inner cell layer of our blood vessels, preventing them from releasing nitric oxide, which they need to dilate and allow our blood to flow.

Instead, potassium increases the release of nitric oxide by softening our endothelium. So, for healthy arteries, we need to have a higher intake of potassium than sodium. See source.

Excess sodium damages our kidneys and impairs their function.

High sodium intake leads to water retention which results in high blood pressure that is meant to help excrete all the extra sodium. When we get older, all  that dealing with high blood pressure leads to damage in our kidneys and they become less efficient in getting rid of excess sodium. This leads to even higher blood pressure, that results in more damage in our kidneys, continuing a vicious cycle.

Sodium can also cause kidney stones. See next tile…

Reducing sodium intake may help reduce the risk of osteoporosis.

Excess sodium promotes calcium loss in our bones and increases calcium excretion through our kidneys. This may be due to sodium increasing our number of osteoclasts (the bone cells that remove old bone tissue) and reducing our number of osteoblasts (the bone cells that build new bone tissue in our body), thus releasing more calcium than they can make up for, leading to osteoporosis. Learn more.

The excess calcium that gets released goes to our kidneys for elimination, but such high amounts can lead to the development of kidney stones. Learn more.

It takes 2 weeks for our taste buds to adapt to foods with less or no salt.

After two weeks of eating foods with reduced or no salt, you will not only get used to them, you will also stop enjoying the salty foods. Give it a try!

By the way, the same thing happens with sugar or when we switch from dairy to plant-based milk. We can get used to new flavors all the time! We just need to give ourselves 2 weeks.

Comparison of Sodium Sources

You may be wondering about other potential sources of sodium, such as supplements and meat. Below we make a quick and simple comparison between the three options.

Plant-Based
We don’t have to look for foods rich in sodium to get the amounts we need. All we have to do is eat a balanced whole-foods, plant-based diet. In fact, lowering or eliminating our intake of animal-based foods, refined grains, and overall processed foods is recommended to lower our sodium intake.
Supplements
Since it is easier to over consume sodium than to be deficient, supplements are only needed for medical reasons such as to prevent kidney toxicity caused by the drug amphotericin B, to reduce brain swelling and pressure inside the skull, to treat sepsis, pink eye, dry eye syndrome, mouth sores and sore throat. Also, to treat cystic fibrosis.
Animal-based
Even if you consume animal-based whole foods, you should check for added sodium, since many manufacturers are adding salt to fresh poultry, meats, and fish.

References