How much salt should a person take in if they are not necessarily watching their sodium intake, but still don't want to take in an excess?

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends sodium intake of no more than 2,300 milligrams per day.

There is a great piece on salt intake in the UK National Health Sytem's web site ...http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/salt.aspx

"Cutting back on added salt is only a small part of the solution. To really cut down, you need to become aware of the salt that is already in the everyday foods you buy, and choose lower-salt options.

Fortunately, nutrition labels on food packaging now make this a lot easier. Most pre-packed foods have a nutrition label on the back or side of the packaging.

Many foods also display information about the salt content on the front of the packaging. This may show the salt content as a percentage of your reference intake (RI), or have colour-coded nutrition information to show whether the food is low, medium or high in salt. Where colour-coding is used, red means high. Eat these foods as an occasional treat, and aim to eat mainly foods that are green (low) or amber (medium).

Look at the figure for salt per 100g:

High is more than 1.5g salt per 100g (0.6g sodium). These foods may be colour-coded red.

Low is 0.3g salt or less per 100g (or 0.1g sodium). These foods may be colour-coded green.

If the amount of salt per 100g is between 0.3g and 1.5g, that is a medium level of salt, and the packaging may be colour-coded amber.

As a rule, aim for foods that have a low or medium salt content. Leave high-salt foods for occasional use."

Well I had sardines in brine today and some kalamata olives so I was thinking I might be puffy tomorrow.

I use Aztec salt from Mexico and a little goes a long way. Lots of healthy minerals too. Himalayan salt is a great option too. Regular table salt should be obsolete in our diets as far as I'm concerned. Listen to your body and the signs it gives you. :-)

I have been told that for people without hypertension, excess salt is washed out of your body assuming you drink enough water. So as long as you stay hydrated it apparently doesn't really matter. I know lots of us do struggle to get all our water in though. I bet with the reduced caloric intake comes a natural salt reduction.

I have been told that for people without hypertension, excess salt is washed out of your body assuming you drink enough water. So as long as you stay hydrated it apparently doesn't really matter. I know lots of us do struggle to get all our water in though. I bet with the reduced caloric intake comes a natural salt reduction.

Not only that, but reducing packaged foods....eating more protein.....these things are going to naturally being your sodium intake down.