Sodium Guidelines

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8 Dec 2021

What do USDA, AHA, Canadian Food Guide say about sodium intake? What do WFPB doctors say about sodium intake?

Canadian Food Guide

What does the Canadian Food Guide say about added salt? Prepare meals and snacks using healthy ingredients says:

What you eat on a regular basis matters for your health.

Choose foods that have little to no added sodium, sugars or saturated fat.
Compare the nutrition facts table on foods to choose products that are lower in sodium, sugars or saturated fat.

Note that no added sodium is an option in the food guide!

How much sodium to consume daily? Canadian Food Guide (Sodium) says AI (Adequate Intake; what we should aim for) for age 14-50 is only 1,500 mg/day. The UL (Upper Tolerable Limit; we really should not exceed this limit) for adults is 2,300 mg/day.

For age group 51-70, AI drops to 1,300 mg/day. For age group 70+, AI drops to 1,200 mg/day.

What are the technical definitions of RDA, AI, UL, EAR? See this article: What are Dietary Reference Intakes?.

AHA (American Heart Association)

What does AHA (American Heart Association) recommend for sodium? "An ideal limit of no more than 1,500 mg per day for most adults." Source: this article.

AHA Dietary Guidelines (2021) say:

Choose or prepare foods with little or no salt.

Note the 'no salt' option!

USDA

Excerpts from Sodium in Your Diet (based on 2020-2025 USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans):

… the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends adults limit sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg per day — that's equal to about 1 teaspoon of table salt! For children under age 14, recommended limits are even lower.

McDougall Diet

If we follow Whole Food Plant-Based guidelines, for example, the McDougall Diet, how much sodium do we get naturally from whole grains, beans, fruits and veggies? This article: Salt: The Scapegoat for the Western Diet (2008) explains:

A basic diet of starches, vegetables, and fruits (the McDougall Diet) with no added sodium provides less than 500 mg of sodium daily. Adding a half-teaspoon of salt to the surface of your McDougall dishes daily adds about 1100 mg of sodium — making the total daily intake 1600 mg.

How Much Sodium in 1 Teaspoon Salt?

In other words, 1/2 tsp salt has approximately 1,200 mg sodium.

Excess Sodium

How many people consume excess sodium?

(2022) Fewer Than 1 in 5,000 Meet Sodium and Potassium Recommended Intakes

(5 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger's summary: "A staggering 99.99 percent of Americans fail to get the minimum recommended potassium intake (despite it being perhaps only half of our natural intake) and stay below the recommended sodium intake (even though it may be twice our natural intake)."

(2016) Salt of the Earth: Sodium & Plant-Based Diets

(4 mins) Transcript. Dr Greger's summary: "Is a plant-based diet sufficient to reach sodium goals?"

Through this video, I learnt that USDA recommends <2300 mg a day. AHA (American Heart Association) recommends <1500 mg a day. Vegetarians eat about 3,000 mg a day; non-vegetarians consume about 3,500 mg a day. In Europe, only the vegans manage to be around 1,300 mg, which is below the AHA limit of <1500 mg a day.

SOS-Free?

Should we consume zero added salt and adopt SOS-Free lifestyle? SOS stands for Sugar, Oil and Salt. See SOS-Free for a discussion. Many Whole Food Plant-Based doctors advocate WFPB SOS-Free lifestyle.

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