How Much Salt Should You Have a Day? Sodium and Labels

Adults should have no more than 6 g of salt a day, about one level teaspoon, which is 2.4 g of sodium; to turn sodium into salt, multiply by 2.5.^{1, 2} Adults in England average 8.4 g, and around three quarters of the salt we eat is already in packaged and everyday food.^{1, 3} An hour of hard sweating loses about a gram of sodium, which is the day a measured sodium drink makes sense.⁴

Evidence at a glance

• Evidence: two pooled analyses of sodium-reduction trials (195 trial reports in 2020; 37 randomised trials in adults in 2013) and a national urine survey of 596 adults in England.
• Largest comparison: 95 trials, 5,982 white participants with normal blood pressure, sodium cut from about 4.7 g to 1.5 g a day, across trials of differing lengths.
• Strongest measured outcome: systolic pressure 5.71 mmHg lower in 3,998 white participants with hypertension across 88 trials, graded high-quality evidence.
• Not tested: daily salt intake in people who sweat heavily; the sweat figures come from an observational dataset of 506 athletes.

Sources checked on 13 October 2026.

How much salt should you have a day?

"Adults should have no more than 6g of salt a day", the NHS says, around one level teaspoon, counting the salt already in food and the salt added during and after cooking.¹ That is 2.4 g of sodium.² Children's limits are lower and rise with age, and the NHS says babies "should not have much salt, because their kidneys are not fully developed".¹

The 2018 to 2019 national survey measured sodium in 24-hour urine collections from 596 adults aged 19 to 64 in England and put average salt intake at 8.4 g a day, 40% above the 6 g maximum: 9.2 g for men and 7.6 g for women.³ The European Food Safety Authority set 2.0 g of sodium a day, 5 g of salt, as a safe and adequate intake for adults; it found too little data to set an average requirement.⁵

What is sodium, and is it the same as salt?

Sodium is a mineral; salt is sodium chloride, about 39% sodium by weight, so sodium multiplied by 2.5 gives salt: 1 g of sodium is 2.5 g of salt and a 6 g teaspoon carries about 2.4 g of sodium.² The NHS says sodium and chloride "help keep the level of fluids in the body balanced".²

Where does the salt in your diet come from?

Around three quarters of the salt we eat is already in packaged and everyday foods, the NHS says, naming bread, breakfast cereals, meat products and ready meals.¹ Salt is also "found naturally at low levels in all foods", so a day with no salt added at the table is still not a day without sodium.²

The NHS tips include: taste food before adding salt; check the salt figure on the back or side of the pack; and buy tinned vegetables, pulses or fish in water rather than brine.¹

Where does sweat fit into the 6 g?

In 506 athletes training or competing at 15 to 50 °C, sweat carried on average about 36 mmol of sodium a litre, about 0.8 g, ranging from roughly 0.4 g to 1.6 g, at an average 1.2 litres an hour.⁴ An hour of hard sweating loses about a gram of sodium; on that day a drink with a measured amount of sodium is salt you can count, and it counts towards the 6 g like any other.^{1, 4} That gram is 2.5 g of salt, about 40% of the 2.4 g of sodium in the day's 6 g.

Sweat rates in the same dataset ran from 0.26 to 5.73 litres an hour, so one session can cost one person a fraction of a gram of sodium and another several grams.⁴ The sachet arithmetic is on the page about how much salt is in an electrolyte sachet, and the Wellgard electrolyte guide covers the rest.

What happens if you have too much salt?

The NHS says "Eating too much salt can cause high blood pressure", which raises the risk of heart attacks and strokes.¹ There is no reliable everyday sign of a salty diet: thirst after a salty meal is common, but high blood pressure "does not usually cause any symptoms".⁶

In the 2020 Cochrane review, cutting sodium from about 4.7 g to 1.5 g a day lowered systolic pressure by 1.14 mmHg in 5,982 white participants with normal blood pressure (95 trials) and by 5.71 mmHg in 3,998 with hypertension (88 trials), both graded high-quality evidence.⁷ Renin, aldosterone, noradrenaline, cholesterol and triglycerides rose slightly; the authors found these changes more consistent than the blood pressure effect in people with normal pressure.⁷

A 2013 review pooled 37 randomised trials in adults: lower sodium reduced systolic pressure by 3.39 mmHg, and by 3.47 mmHg where intake fell below 2 g a day, with no significant effect on blood lipids, catecholamines or kidney function; the two reviews differ on lipids.⁸ In its 14 cohort studies higher sodium intake was associated with more stroke (risk ratio 1.24) and more deaths from stroke and coronary heart disease; the associations with deaths from all causes were not significant.⁸

The NHS advises a blood pressure check at a pharmacy or GP surgery if you are 40 or over and have not had one for more than five years.⁶ With a blood pressure medicine or kidney or heart disease, ask your GP or pharmacist about salt and any electrolyte product.

How do you read sodium on a food or supplement label?

Food labels give salt; supplement labels often give sodium in milligrams. On food, the NHS calls more than 1.5 g of salt per 100 g high and 0.3 g or less per 100 g low.⁹ On a supplement label, multiply sodium by 2.5: 500 mg of sodium is 1.25 g of salt, about a fifth of the 6 g. Where a label lists sodium chloride, about 39% of it is sodium: 1,000 mg carries about 390 mg.

Sodium itself has no authorised health claim in Great Britain; the register's one sodium wording, "Reducing consumption of sodium contributes to the maintenance of normal blood pressure", belongs only to foods low or reduced in sodium.¹⁰ The NHS also notes that some dissolvable tablets, including painkillers and vitamins, "may be high in salt"; speak to your GP before changing any medicine.¹

What we don't know

• No trial has tested how much salt people who sweat heavily need across a day; the sweat figures come from an observational dataset of mostly male athletes.
• The 2013 review found too few randomised trials to measure the effect of lower sodium on deaths and heart disease directly.
• Cohort studies disagree about intakes well below 6 g of salt: the Cochrane authors cite cohorts linking them with higher mortality, while the 2013 review linked higher intake with stroke.
• EFSA could not set an average sodium requirement, so 2.0 g a day is a safe and adequate figure, not a measured minimum.

Frequently asked questions

How much sodium is in a teaspoon of salt?

About 2.4 g. The NHS puts a level teaspoon at around 6 g of salt, and 6 g of salt is 2.4 g of sodium.^{1, 2}

Is 1,000 mg of sodium a day too little?

It is half the 2.0 g a day the European Food Safety Authority judged safe and adequate, an intake it said is "likely to allow most of the general adult population to maintain sodium balance".⁵ The trials in the Cochrane review took intake down to about 1.5 g a day.⁷ If you plan to stay near 1,000 mg for months, or have a condition or medicine that affects sodium, ask your GP.

Does sweating mean you need more salt?

On the days you sweat hard you lose some: about a gram of sodium an hour on average, with a wide range between people.⁴ A salted meal or a measured sodium drink puts it back, and both count towards the 6 g; see salt tablets for runners and how much sodium is in an electrolyte drink.

Can drinking water flush out salt?

No drink or food cancels salt out. Healthy kidneys pass excess sodium in urine, which is why the national survey could estimate intake from 24-hour urine collections; one adult in 40 in that survey was above 17.8 g of salt a day.³ With kidney or heart disease or a fluid limit, follow your care team's advice.

Is pink or sea salt lower in sodium?

Slightly, by weight. In an analysis of 31 pink salts sold in Australia, the full results put pink salt at about 395 mg of sodium per gram against 428 mg in one table salt, and more than 30 g a day would be needed for its other minerals to count, an amount the authors said "would provide excessive sodium".¹¹ More in is pink salt better than table salt?

Sources

1. NHS. Salt in your diet. Page last reviewed 17 April 2023 (review overdue); checked 13 October 2026. nhs.uk
2. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: others. Page last reviewed 3 August 2020 (review overdue); checked 13 October 2026. nhs.uk
3. Public Health England. National Diet and Nutrition Survey: salt intake from urinary sodium, England, 2018 to 2019. Published 25 March 2020. National survey, 596 adults, 24-hour urine collections. gov.uk
4. Baker LB et al. Journal of Sports Sciences 2016. Observational dataset, 506 athletes; authors at a sports-drink maker's research institute. PubMed 26070030
5. EFSA Panel on Nutrition, Novel Foods and Food Allergens. Dietary reference values for sodium. EFSA Journal 2019. Expert opinion. PubMed 32626425
6. NHS. High blood pressure. Page last reviewed 19 July 2024. nhs.uk
7. Graudal NA et al. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2020. Pooled analysis of 195 trial reports; up to 95 trials and 5,982 people per comparison; authors declare no food or salt industry funding. PubMed 33314019
8. Aburto NJ et al. BMJ 2013. Systematic review, 37 randomised trials and 14 cohort studies in adults. PubMed 23558163
9. NHS. How to read food labels. Page last reviewed 30 June 2026. nhs.uk
10. Retained Regulation (EU) No 432/2012, Annex. Legislation, checked 13 October 2026. legislation.gov.uk
11. Fayet-Moore F et al. Foods 2020. Laboratory analysis, 31 pink salt samples; self-funded by an independent research company. PubMed 33086585

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