Nutrition
Information, Symptoms, Treatments and Resources
Nutrition Labels 101
Be Smart About Salt
Be Smart About Salt
The dietary guidelines recommend that you stay under 1,500 milligrams of sodium (salt) a day, yet the average American eats much more than that. A National Institutes of Health study found that if we lowered our average intake by 1,000 milligrams, we could prevent 120,000 new cases of heart disease each year. Get your salt reading by looking at the percent daily value per serving, located to the right of the sodium listing. As with fiber, foods that are 5% of your daily value or less are considered low in sodium, while foods that are 20% or more of your daily value are considered high in sodium. Pay attention to sodium values in breads, cereals, crackers and chips, since these foods account for about 20% of average salt intake.
By Amanda Tust. Published April 29, 2013. Amanda is a Denver-based health, science and lifestyle writer.
Reviewed by Joseph Sclafani, MD on April 14, 2015.
