Most people get too much sodium in their diet

Most people use too much sodium (salt, sodium chloride). The upper limit on sodium comes from a panel of experts, and often different panels come up with different limits. One group sets the upper daily limit at 2,400 mg of sodium. Another would like people to use less, somewhere in the range of 1,200 mg to 1,500 mg.

The 2,400 mg amount is equal to one teaspoon of salt. That doesn’t mean you’re allowed to fill up a teaspoon with salt and use that whole teaspoon on food throughout the day. It indicates total sodium intake. People get 77 percent of their total daily sodium from processed and restaurant foods, things like commercial soups, frozen foods and luncheon meats. Another 12 percent comes from the sodium found naturally in foods. Six percent comes from salt sprinkled at the table, and 5 percent from salt added during cooking. You can cut 11 percent of your sodium intake by eliminating the last two sources. For salt added during the processing of foods, you have to read labels.

The percentage of sodium listed on labels indicates the percent of the recommended daily sodium intake found in a serving of that food.