How Much Sodium Per Day Is Healthy

If you want to have a healthy lifestyle, it is important to know how much sodium per day is healthy. Sodium is an essential mineral that regulates the body's fluid balance. The kidneys remove extra sodium in the body. While sodium is needed for the body to function, many people consume way too much sodium every day. Learning about how much sodium per day is healthy is the first step to controlling the amount of sodium you intake every day.

Five hundred to one thousand milligrams of sodium is how much sodium an adult needs per day. Adults should try to consume no more than two thousand four hundred milligrams of sodium per day if they want to be healthy. Many doctors recommend that people, who have high blood pressure, consume much less sodium per day to be healthy. Reducing the amount of sodium you have in a day can help lower your blood pressure, which in turn reduces your risk of having a heart attack or stroke. A low sodium diet can also reduce the likelihood of developing kidney disease.

There are some easy ways to reduce the amount sodium you have per day to a healthy level. One the easiest ways to keep your sodium intake to a healthy level is by cooking from scratch. Sine one teaspoon of table salt has two thousand milligrams of sodium in it, reducing the amount of table salt you cook with will help you reduce the amount of sodium per day you eat. Another easy way to reduce the amount of sodium you consume a day is by reading food labels. Many people believe that the amount of sodium listed on a food label is the amount of sodium for the entire container of food. However, it is important to realize that the amount listed is for one serving of that particular food item. To ensure that you are only eating the healthy amount of sodium per day, it is also a good idea to keep a food journal. Next to each item that you eat, you can write down the amount of sodium it contains.