Sodium

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• Diagnosis and Tests

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Summary

Table salt is a combination of two minerals - sodium and chloride Your body needs some sodium to work properly. It helps with the function of nerves and muscles. It also helps to keep the right balance of fluids in your body. Your kidneys control how much sodium is in your body. If you have too much and your kidneys can't get rid it, sodium builds up in your blood. This can lead to high blood pressure. High blood pressure can lead to other health problems.

Most people in the U.S. get more sodium in their diets than they need. A key to healthy eating is choosing foods low in sodium. The Dietary Guidelines recommend that most adults eat less than 2.3 grams per day. That equals about 1 teaspoon of table salt a day. Some people are more sensitive to the effects of salt than others and should eat less. This includes people who have high blood pressure, diabetes, or kidney problems, or are African American or over age 50. Reading food labels can help you see how much sodium is in prepared foods.

NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Start Here

• Eating Too Much Salt? Ways to Cut Back Gradually (Food and Drug Administration)
• Sodium and Food Sources (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Sodium in Your Diet (Food and Drug Administration)
• Sodium: How to Tame Your Salt Habit (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Sodium Blood Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Central Pontine Myelinolysis (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Potassium (Harvard School of Public Health)
• Salty Stuff: Salt, Blood Pressure, and Your Health (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish
• Sea Salt vs. Table Salt: What's the Difference? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Tips to Reduce Salt and Sodium (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute) - PDF

Specifics

• Healthy Recipes: Low Sodium (National Library of Medicine)
• Hyponatremia (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Dietary Sodium (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Hyponatremia (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Low Sodium Intake, Low Protein Intake, and Excess Mortality in an...
• Article: Estimated Impact of Achieving the Australian National Sodium Reduction Targets on...
• Article: Comment on Hogas et al. Salt, Not Always a Cardiovascular Enemy?...
• Sodium -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion
• Food and Drug Administration
• Food and Nutrition Information Center
• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

Older Adults

• Low Blood Sodium in Older Adults: A Concern? (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Patient Handouts

• Cooking without salt (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Low sodium level (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Low-salt diet (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Sodium blood test (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Sodium in diet (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish