About 70% of sodium intake in US diet comes from Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs)! Top sources:

• Breads and Rolls
• Pizza
• Sandwiches
• Cold Cuts & Cured Meats
• Soup
• Burritos & Tacos

Source: Break Up With Excess Sodium by AHA (AmericanHeart Association).

If we adopt Whole Food Plant-Based guidelines, we may eliminate Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) completely, and choose to cut down on salt in meals prepared at home, thus reducing our total sodium intake.

American Heart Association and Canadian Food Guide recommend limiting our sodium intake to 1,500 mg sodium daily. Turns out that if we prepare Whole Food Plant-Based meals, we get approximately 300 mg to 500 mg sodium on a 2,000 calorie diet — the exact amount of sodium depends on the choice of fruits, vegetables and other plant foods in our food plates; we may use Cronometer to estimate total sodium for our food plates. If we add half a teaspoon of salt (which has approximately 1,100 mg sodium) to our meals in the entire day, our total sodium intake is likely to be less than 1,600 mg. For details, see Dr McDougall's article on salt.

Practically speaking, not everybody who strives to follow Whole Food Plant-Based guidelines has eliminated Ultra-Processed Foods (UPFs) completely. If so, it will be helpful to read nutrition labels and inspect the ratio between total calories and sodium before buying a product.

Even if we have adopted Whole Food Plant-Based guidelines diligently, we may be consuming products like Kimchi, Sauerkraut & Pickles, Bread, Soy Sauce, Oil-Free Hummus, Baking Soda & Baking Powder, and Electrolytes — it is helpful to study sodium content of these products. Even some Dessert recipes have added salt!