Research

Hormonal

Moderate sodium intake (3–5 g/d) is associated with the lowest risk of cardiovascular events and mortality, whereas both lower (<3 g/d) and higher (>5 g/d) intakes are associated with increased risk, forming a J-shaped curve.

Aim for a moderate sodium intake of 3–5 grams per day (approx. 0.75–1.25 teaspoons of salt). Avoid both excessive salt (>5 g/d) and very low salt diets (<3 g/d), as both are associated with higher cardiovascular risk in large population studies. This is particularly important if you have hypertension, where high sodium poses a greater risk.

GoodQualifiesHIGH confidence
current evidence from prospective cohort studies suggests a J-shaped association between sodium intake and cardiovascular events... suggests that the lowest risk of cardiovascular events and death occurs in populations consuming an average sodium intake range (3–5 g/d).
Martin O’Donnell et al. · Circulation Research · 2015

Why this rating

Based on large prospective cohort studies (PURE, ONTARGET/TRANSCEND) with >300,000 participants, though lacking large long-term RCTs for hard endpoints.

Source

Sodium Intake and Cardiovascular Health

Martin O’Donnell et al. · Circulation Research · 2015

DOI 10.1161/circresaha.116.303771

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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