Top 15 Low-Sodium Foods for Healthy Blood Pressure

Low-sodium foods are foods with 140 milligrams of sodium or less per serving, and nearly every whole food qualifies: fresh vegetables and fruit, beans and lentils cooked from dry, eggs, fresh fish and meat, plain whole grains, and unsalted nuts and seeds.12 I recommend building a low-sodium plan on real food rich in potassium, lightly salted by your own hand with unrefined salt, because about 71% of the sodium Americans eat is added to packaged and restaurant food before it reaches you.649

Maybe a blood-pressure reading came back higher than you expected, or you've been told to watch your salt and now you're standing in the grocery aisle wondering what's left to eat. The answer is a great deal, and the foods worth reaching for are the ones that work on why your pressure climbed in the first place. In my High Blood Pressure Protocol, I describe high blood pressure as what your arteries and kidneys do when insulin runs high, the minerals that relax your vessels run low, and your nervous system is stuck in overdrive.6 The foods on this list work on the mineral side of that picture, because they're low in sodium and 13 of the 15 have more potassium than sodium, the balance your kidneys use to let extra sodium and water go.210

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The list below gives the sodium and potassium in a realistic serving of each food, then walks through what these foods do for your body, where most sodium hides, how to read a label, and easy meals and snacks that put it all together.

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What are low-sodium foods?

Food labels use a short ladder of sodium terms, and each one has a legal definition. "Sodium-free" means less than 5 mg per serving, "very low sodium" means 35 mg or less, "low sodium" means 140 mg or less, and "reduced sodium" means at least 25% less than the regular version of that food.1 "Unsalted" and "no salt added" only mean that no salt went in during processing, so when such a food isn't sodium-free on its own, the label has to say "not a sodium free food."1

The reason a fresh food lands so low while a packaged one often doesn't comes down to the salt itself. Table salt is about 39% sodium by weight, so a teaspoon of fine salt (6 grams) holds 2,328 mg of sodium, and even a quarter teaspoon has 582 mg.11 A fillet of fish or a fresh vegetable holds only the sodium nature put in it, while a can of soup or a seasoning packet carries the salt a factory added.

Your body does need some sodium. It holds water in your bloodstream and keeps your nerves and muscles firing, and the amount needed for those basic jobs is under 500 mg a day.12 Guidelines set 1,500 mg a day as an adequate intake for adults and advise bringing intake down when it runs above 2,300 mg, while the average American takes in about 3,400 mg.57 In national survey data from 2009 to 2012, 89% of U.S. adults went over 2,300 mg.13 Our guides to a low-sodium diet and how much sodium per day go deeper into the daily numbers. Most of the gap between what you need and what the average American eats comes from packaged and restaurant food, which is why the list below is a list of foods in their natural state.4

Top 15 low-sodium foods (with sodium per serving)

Every number on this list comes from the USDA's FoodData Central and is worked out for a realistic serving from each food's own portion weights.2 We've listed potassium beside sodium, because potassium is the other half of the balance your blood pressure depends on. Eight of these foods also make the top 10 blood-pressure foods in my High Blood Pressure Protocol, from leafy greens to plain yogurt and kefir.6

1. Grass-fed beef

Fresh meat is naturally low in sodium: 3 ounces of raw grass-fed ground beef has 58 mg, along with 246 mg of potassium, about 16.5 grams of protein, 3.9 mg of zinc and 1.7 mcg of vitamin B12.2 The sodium in meat mostly arrives with curing and processing, which is why a fresh cut belongs on this list and deli meat doesn't. Keep your red meat fresh, unprocessed and grass-fed. The WHO's cancer agency classifies processed meat of every kind, processed beef included, as a Group 1 carcinogen, largely on colorectal cancer data, and rates red meat itself Group 2A, probably carcinogenic.14 As I've said on my show, the studies that link red meat to poor health mostly reflect grain-fed and processed meat, not the fresh, grass-fed red meat I recommend.15 Season a burger or steak with garlic, black pepper and rosemary, and add a pinch of unrefined salt at the table.

2. Wild-caught Alaskan salmon

Three ounces of cooked wild sockeye salmon has 78 mg of sodium, 371 mg of potassium and about 22.5 grams of protein.2 Wild salmon and sardines are third on my list of blood-pressure foods, because their omega-3 fats help lower blood pressure and calm the inflammation that stiffens arteries.6 Look for wild, Alaskan fish when you shop. Bake or broil a fillet with lemon, dill and garlic, and you won't miss the salt.

3. Pasture-raised eggs

A large egg has 71 mg of sodium, about half the 140 mg line for a low-sodium food, and gives you 69 mg of potassium, about 6.3 grams of protein and about 147 mg of choline.21 That makes eggs one of the easiest ways to put protein on your plate without adding much sodium. Scramble them with greens and red pepper, or hard-boil a batch for the week and keep them in the fridge for quick breakfasts and snacks.

4. Brown rice

A cup of cooked brown rice has about 8 mg of sodium, close to none, along with 174 mg of potassium and the fiber of the whole grain.2 Cook it in water or homemade broth, and flavor it the way you'd season a grain bowl, with a pinch of unrefined salt and cayenne, paprika or turmeric.

5. Quinoa

A cup of cooked quinoa has 13 mg of sodium, 318 mg of potassium and 118 mg of magnesium, and it works anywhere you'd use rice.2 Toss it with olive oil, lemon juice, parsley, cucumber and tomato for a quick tabbouleh-style salad that needs only a pinch of salt.

6. Oats

Plain oats are about as low in sodium as a food gets: half a cup of dry rolled or quick oats has 2 mg, with 147 mg of potassium.2 Flavored instant packets are a different food, and one apples-and-cinnamon packet has 195 mg.16 Make your own instead, with oats cooked in water and topped with berries, cinnamon and a spoonful of ground flaxseed.

7. Fresh vegetables

Vegetables are where low-sodium eating gets easy, because nearly every fresh one is low in sodium and rich in potassium.2 Leafy greens and beets top my list of blood-pressure foods, for the nitrate, magnesium and potassium that help relax and widen your arteries.6

Source: USDA FoodData Central.2

Celery and beets have more natural sodium than most vegetables and still sit under the 140 mg line, while a cup of canned mixed vegetables has 549 mg because of the salted liquid they're packed in.16 Choose fresh vegetables, or plain frozen ones with no sauce, and roast or steam them with olive oil, garlic and lemon.

8. Fresh fruit

Fruit has almost no sodium. A medium apple, a cup of strawberries and a cup of diced watermelon each have 2 mg, a cup of blueberries and a banana 1 mg each, and a cup of cantaloupe 26 mg.2 What fruit brings instead is potassium, with 451 mg in a banana and 427 mg in a cup of cantaloupe.2 Berries also bring anthocyanins, plant pigments that help your blood vessels work better.6 Keep a bowl on the counter, and pair a piece of fruit with a handful of unsalted nuts for a snack that stays under 10 mg of sodium.

9. Avocado

A whole California avocado has 11 mg of sodium and 690 mg of potassium.2 I rank avocado among the top blood-pressure foods because it's one of the most potassium-dense foods there is, with more potassium than a banana to help right the sodium-to-potassium ratio, plus monounsaturated fat.6 Mash it with lime, garlic and cilantro for guacamole, and scoop it up with sliced peppers and cucumber.

10. Plain goat or sheep yogurt

For dairy, goat and sheep milk come first, and their plain yogurts make an easy low-sodium base for breakfast or a dip. A cup of goat milk has 122 mg of sodium with 498 mg of potassium, and a cup of sheep milk 108 mg with 336 mg.2 The USDA doesn't list a separate goat or sheep yogurt, so check the label for 140 mg or less per serving. Plain yogurt and kefir round out my top 10 blood-pressure foods, for their calcium, potassium and probiotics.6 Stir in berries and cinnamon, or blend it with garlic, cucumber and dill for a fresh dip.

11. Coconut yogurt and coconut kefir

If you avoid dairy, coconut-milk yogurt has 70 mg of sodium in a 6-ounce container.2 The USDA hasn't measured coconut kefir, and products vary, so read the label before you buy. Coconut water is a different case: a cup carries 600 mg of potassium along with 252 mg of sodium, so count it as a potassium food rather than a low-sodium one.2 Top coconut yogurt with sliced banana and blueberries for a breakfast with almost no sodium.

12. Goat cheese

Goat cheese stays under the 140 mg line: an ounce of semisoft goat cheese has 118 mg and an ounce of soft goat cheese 130 mg, against 323 mg in an ounce of feta.216 An ounce has plenty of flavor, so crumble it over a salad of greens, roasted beets and walnuts and you'll barely need dressing salt.

13. Beans cooked from dry

Cooked from dry, a cup of black beans has 2 mg of sodium with 611 mg of potassium, and a cup of chickpeas 11 mg with 477 mg.2 Beans and lentils bring potassium, magnesium, fiber and plant protein to your plate.6 The can changes the picture: a cup of regular canned black beans carries 922 mg, and even the canned version the USDA lists as low sodium has 331 mg.16 If you use canned beans, choose "no salt added" and drain and rinse them, which lowers their sodium further.17 Better still, soak dry beans overnight, simmer them with a bay leaf, garlic and onion, and salt them lightly once they're tender.

14. Lentils

A cup of cooked lentils has just 4 mg of sodium and gives you 731 mg of potassium, the most of any of the 15 foods here, plus about 17.9 grams of protein.2 A cup of canned lentil soup, by contrast, has 673 mg.16 Lentils need no soaking, so simmer them with onion, carrot, cumin and homemade broth for a soup where you decide every pinch of salt.

15. Unsalted nuts and seeds

An ounce of raw almonds has less than 1 mg of sodium and dry-roasted unsalted almonds 1 mg, while the same ounce of salted almonds carries 66 mg.216 An ounce of pumpkin seeds has 2 mg with 229 mg of potassium, and an ounce of chia seeds 5 mg.2 Pumpkin seeds are especially rich in magnesium, about 168 mg an ounce, the mineral your vessel walls relax on.26 Our guide to the healthiest nuts compares the options, and the rule for all of them is the same: buy them raw or dry-roasted with no salt added.

What do low-sodium foods do for your body?

Each card's badge shows how strong the human research is behind that benefit.

Who benefits most from low-sodium foods?

I've sat with thousands of people who were told their pressure was up, the cause was unknown, and here was a prescription they'd likely take forever.6 High blood pressure was never just a salt problem; it's a vessel and signaling problem, which is why the foods that refill your minerals matter as much as the salt you cut.6 If you have high blood pressure or kidney disease, you may benefit from eating less sodium, but not everyone needs a low-sodium diet, and some people need more sodium to keep their electrolytes balanced and avoid hyponatremia, a low blood sodium.24

Blood pressure that rises and falls with salt intake is called salt-sensitive, and how sensitive you are varies from person to person.12 In a trial of 213 adults aged 50 to 75, each person spent one week adding about 2,200 mg of sodium a day to their usual diet and another week at about 500 mg a day in total, a test level rather than a target. Average blood pressure fell in 73.4% of them on the low-sodium week, and 46% met the researchers' cutoff for salt sensitivity, a drop of at least 5 mm Hg, whether or not they had high blood pressure or took medication for it.25 On average, one low-sodium week lowered systolic pressure by about 8 mm Hg compared with the high-sodium week, a drop the researchers called comparable with a commonly used first-line blood-pressure medicine.25

The benefit holds across backgrounds, and it's biggest where pressure runs high. In a Cochrane review of 195 reports of randomized sodium-reduction trials, people with high blood pressure saw larger drops in systolic pressure than people with normal pressure among white, Black and Asian participants alike. The largest drops came in Asian participants (7.75 mm Hg, 8 trials in 254 people) and Black participants (6.64 mm Hg, 8 trials in 398 people) with high blood pressure.26

When people refill the minerals their vessels relax on, calm their nervous system and move their bodies, pressure falls, and I have watched it happen more times than I can count.6 Low-sodium foods are one part of that bigger plan, and our guides to a high blood pressure diet and natural ways to lower blood pressure cover the rest, from magnesium to movement and sleep, but the plate is the easiest place to start.

Where does most of your sodium come from?

The salt you add yourself turns out to be a small share of your sodium. When researchers in Birmingham, Palo Alto and Minneapolis–St. Paul asked 450 adults, split evenly between men and women across four racial and ethnic groups, to describe everything they'd eaten in four 24-hour interviews, and collected duplicate samples of the salt people added at home, the salt they cooked with (5.6%) and added at the table (4.9%) came to about 10.5% of their sodium together, and another 14.2% was naturally in the food itself.4 By contrast, 70.9% was added before the food ever reached them, which is why that's where your effort pays off most.4

The FDA puts the share from packaged and prepared foods at over 70% too,7 and that's why the sodium I go after is the packaged, canned and restaurant kind, from deli and processed meats and salted snacks to bottled sauces and instant soups.6 Your arteries relax on magnesium and potassium, and modern food is stripped of both while flooding you with sodium.6 Many of those foods are ultra-processed foods, so trading them for whole food works on both sides of the balance at once.

Broth is a good example, and an easy one to change if you're cooking for the holidays. A cup of ready-to-serve chicken broth from the store has 924 mg of sodium, while a cup of home-prepared chicken stock has 343 mg, and when you make it yourself you decide how much salt goes in.16 Our guide to bone broth shows how to make a pot that lasts all week.

How sodium and potassium work together in your body

Picture a seesaw with sodium on one side and potassium on the other. Packaged and restaurant food piles onto the sodium side, while vegetables, fruit, beans and fish load the potassium side, and your kidneys work all day to keep the two level.

The way I explain it, sodium causes your body to hold on to water, and potassium causes your body to release water.29 Sodium keeps fluid in your bloodstream, which sets how much volume your heart has to push against.12 Potassium works from the other side, and research in animals shows that when you eat more of it, the kidney's filtering tubes turn down a sodium transporter, so more sodium and water leave in your urine, much the way a mild water pill works.10 Too much sodium without enough potassium is what pushes blood pressure up and leaves you swollen.30

Long-term studies point the same way, starting with the follow-up of the Trials of Hypertension Prevention, in which 2,275 adults with borderline-high blood pressure collected repeated 24-hour urine samples and were followed for 10 to 15 years. Those with the highest sodium-to-potassium ratio had a 50% higher risk of heart attack, stroke and related events than those with the lowest, while sodium alone didn't separate them clearly.27 In six cohorts of 10,709 adults followed for a median of 8.8 years, each extra 1,000 mg of potassium a day was linked to an 18% lower risk of heart attacks, strokes and related events, and the highest quarter of sodium-to-potassium ratio to a 62% higher risk than the lowest quarter.28 Both are observational studies, and they line up with what the trials above found.

The adequate intake for potassium is 3,400 mg a day for men and 2,600 mg for women, and for healthy blood pressure I recommend 4,000 to 4,700 mg a day from food.56 You want some potassium-rich foods like sweet potato and certain types of fruit, even just one serving a day, and fruits, vegetables, potatoes and beans are the foods that give you the most electrolytes.31 Salt your food lightly with a good-quality salt and eat it alongside fruits that are high in potassium, and that creates a really healthy exchange in the body that's great for your overall heart health.9 Our guide to potassium-rich foods lists more choices, and low potassium covers the signs that you're running short. A sweet potato, a cup of lentils, an avocado and a banana alone add up to 2,414 mg (542 + 731 + 690 + 451), more than halfway to that goal before you count anything else on your plate.2

Real salt in moderation: Celtic and Himalayan salt

In The Biblio Diet, I explain that the sodium content of different salts is similar, and that the real difference lies in the trace minerals and additives they contain.24 Unrefined sea salt contains calcium, magnesium and potassium along with dozens of trace minerals, with no additives, and lab measurements bear that out.24 When Australian researchers analyzed 31 samples of pink salt bought in shops, the pink salt held more calcium, magnesium and potassium than an iodized table salt, and flaky, darker salts from the Himalayan region held the most.32 A teaspoon (about 5 grams) of that pink salt had about 1,974 mg of sodium along with 13.5 mg of calcium, 13.3 mg of magnesium and 12 mg of potassium, so it's still mostly sodium chloride, and a little goes a long way.32 That's why my advice is to use it sparingly, but to use a little Himalayan salt or sea salt every single day.8

Going very low has costs of its own, and you can see them in a study of 152 healthy adults who each spent a week on a very-low-salt diet and a week on a high-salt diet, where the low-salt week raised insulin resistance (its standard score was 2.8 after the low-salt week and 2.4 after the high-salt week). It also pushed up aldosterone, a salt-saving hormone, and norepinephrine, a stress hormone.33 That's one reason I say that, in most cases, going low salt isn't ideal.9 The Cochrane review of 195 trial reports found the same push-back in trials that cut sodium from about 4,700 to about 1,500 mg a day, with the body's salt-saving hormones renin and aldosterone rising, along with norepinephrine.26 Ironically, people eating clean often cut out processed foods but don't replace the salt in their diet.30 If that's you, salting your home-cooked food lightly belongs in the plan.

Unrefined salts aren't iodized, so if they're the only salt in your kitchen, get your iodine from fish, eggs, sea vegetables and dairy, and our guide to iodine-rich foods lists the best sources.34

Traditional Chinese medicine has long taught the same moderation. It assigns the salty flavor to the water element, which governs the kidneys, adrenal glands and bladder, and holds that salty foods such as sea salt, miso and seaweed help store heat deep in the body.35 Used in excess, though, salty foods are said to weaken the kidneys, adrenals and bladder and to strain the heart, so the tradition keeps them in moderation.35

Scripture takes salt's place at the table for granted, too. Job asked, "Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?" (Job 6:6).36 Job's question still has the same answer in your kitchen today: a little salt is what makes plain, whole food good to eat.

Low-sodium vs. high-sodium foods: smart swaps

The easiest way to cut sodium is to compare the same food made two ways, because the sodium usually comes from what was done to the food, and the swap is often a small one. Our guide to foods high in sodium covers the other side of the list in more detail.

Source: USDA FoodData Central.216

Some whole foods carry real salt along with real benefits, and these are foods to enjoy in small portions rather than avoid. Five large olives have 162 mg, a small dill pickle spear 283 mg, a tablespoon of miso 634 mg and a cup of canned sauerkraut 939 mg.16 A few olives or a forkful of sauerkraut beside a meal adds flavor and the goodness of fermented foods, so count them toward your day and keep the portions small. Canned and salted fish such as sardines and anchovies vary widely from one product to the next, so read the label and choose the ones packed in water or olive oil with no salt added.

How to cut sodium without losing flavor

Four habits do most of the work, starting with the one that makes the biggest difference.

1. Cook at home from whole foods

When you cook, you control the salt, and that alone takes you out of the packaged and restaurant food that supplies most of the sodium Americans eat.4 It's the first habit in my plan for lowering blood pressure with food: cook at home so you control the salt, and season with herbs, citrus and garlic.6 A little planning makes it easy. Cook a pot of beans or lentils and a pan of brown rice or quinoa on the weekend, keep a jar of homemade broth in the fridge, and stock plain frozen vegetables for busy nights.

2. How to read a label for sodium

The Nutrition Facts label tells you what you need, as long as you read it in this order:7

• Serving size. The sodium figure is for one serving, so check how many servings the package holds before you eat the whole thing.
• Sodium in milligrams. For everyday packaged foods, look for 140 mg or less per serving, the FDA's line for a low-sodium food and the line I use for most packaged foods.16
• Percent Daily Value. A food with 5% of the Daily Value or less per serving is low in sodium, and one with 20% or more is high.7
• The claim on the front. "No salt added" doesn't mean sodium-free, and "reduced sodium" only means 25% less than the regular version, so a cup of reduced-sodium canned lentil soup still carries 479 mg.116

3. Season with herbs, citrus and garlic first, then a pinch of real salt

Flavor doesn't have to come from salt. Garlic, onion, black pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, rosemary, thyme, fresh herbs, lemon and lime juice and a splash of vinegar all wake up a dish. My pressure-lowering plate gets its flavor from herbs, citrus, garlic and vinegar, not the shaker or the packet.6 Then finish at the table with a pinch of unrefined salt, so you can taste exactly how much you're adding.

4. Eating out

Restaurant food is where sodium hides best, so a few habits go a long way. Ask for sauces and dressings on the side, choose grilled, roasted or steamed dishes, go easy on soups and cured meats, and ask the kitchen to go light on the salt. Then plan the rest of that day around fresh, unsalted food.

Whichever habit you start with, give it time, because in a closer look at the DASH-Sodium trial, blood pressure on the lower-sodium diet kept falling week after week and hadn't leveled off by week 4.37 A home blood-pressure cuff and a weekly average, the scoreboard I recommend, will show you the trend better than any single reading.6

Low-sodium meals and snacks: easy ideas

The simplest template for a low-sodium meal is the pressure-lowering plate from the High Blood Pressure Protocol: fill half the plate with potassium- and nitrate-rich color such as greens, beets and other vegetables, a quarter with clean protein such as fish, poultry or legumes, and a quarter with smart carbs.6 A day built that way can look like this, with every item low in sodium until you salt it yourself:

• Breakfast: Plain oats cooked in water, topped with blueberries, cinnamon and a tablespoon of chia seeds, or two eggs scrambled with spinach and red pepper.
• Lunch: A big salad of greens, wild salmon, avocado, cucumber and pumpkin seeds, dressed with olive oil and lemon.
• Snack: An apple with a handful of unsalted almonds, or plain goat yogurt with berries.
• Dinner: White bean or lentil soup made from dry beans and homemade broth you salt yourself, with roasted sweet potato and broccoli.

For dinner ideas, our chicken vegetable soup, garlic lemon chicken and cucumber tomato salad all start from whole foods, and our collection of soup recipes has more; salt each one to taste with a light hand. In Ancient Remedies, I share a white bean soup made with rinsed cannellini beans, broth or chicken bone broth and kale, seasoned with sea salt and black pepper to taste, and it's a good model for a low-sodium dinner because you control every pinch.35

Low-sodium snacks

The best low-sodium snacks are whole foods you can grab without a recipe:

• Fresh fruit with a small handful of unsalted almonds or pumpkin seeds
• Sliced bell pepper, cucumber and celery with guacamole or hummus made from chickpeas cooked from dry
• Plain goat or coconut yogurt with berries and chia seeds
• A hard-boiled egg with cherry tomatoes
• A homemade trail mix of unsalted nuts and seeds

Our list of healthy snacks has more ideas, and any of them works on a low-sodium plan as long as you skip the salted versions.

Who should be careful going low-sodium?

Low-sodium whole foods suit most people, and a few situations call for a different plan.

The bottom line

Low-sodium foods: frequently asked questions

References

1. Electronic Code of Federal Regulations. 21 CFR 101.61, Nutrient content claims for the sodium content of foods (sodium free: less than 5 mg; very low sodium: 35 mg or less; low sodium: 140 mg or less per reference amount; reduced sodium: at least 25% less; unsalted and no salt added: no salt added during processing).
2. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, SR Legacy and FNDDS records for the 15 foods on this page (sodium, potassium and protein per 100 g, plus zinc and vitamin B12 for beef, choline for egg and magnesium for quinoa and pumpkin seeds; portions from each record): beef, grass-fed, ground, raw (FDC 168608); salmon, sockeye, cooked, dry heat (173692); egg, whole, raw, fresh (171287); rice, brown, long-grain, cooked (169704); quinoa, cooked (168917); oats, regular and quick, not fortified, dry (173904); broccoli, raw (170379); asparagus, raw (168389); cucumber, with peel, raw (168409); peppers, sweet, red, raw (170108); spinach, raw (168462); sweet potato, baked in skin, without salt (168483); artichokes, boiled, without salt (168386); celery, raw (169988); beets, raw (169145); apples, raw, with skin (171688); strawberries, raw (167762); blueberries, raw (171711); bananas, raw (173944); cantaloupe, raw (169092); watermelon, raw (167765); avocados, raw, California (171706); milk, goat, fluid (171278); milk, sheep, fluid (170882); yogurt, coconut milk (FNDDS 2707569); coconut water (170174); cheese, goat, semisoft (173433); cheese, goat, soft (173435); beans, black, cooked, boiled, without salt (173735); chickpeas, cooked, boiled, without salt (173757); lentils, cooked, boiled, without salt (172421); nuts, almonds (170567); almonds, dry roasted, without salt (170158); pumpkin seed kernels, dried (170556); chia seeds, dried (170554). Accessed November 4, 2026.
3. Sacks FM, Svetkey LP, Vollmer WM, Appel LJ, Bray GA, Harsha D, et al. Effects on blood pressure of reduced dietary sodium and the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet. DASH-Sodium Collaborative Research Group. N Engl J Med. 2001;344(1):3-10. doi:10.1056/NEJM200101043440101. PMID:11136953
4. Harnack LJ, Cogswell ME, Shikany JM, Gardner CD, Gillespie C, Loria CM, et al. Sources of Sodium in US Adults From 3 Geographic Regions. Circulation. 2017;135(19):1775-1783. doi:10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.116.024446. PMID:28483828
5. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. Oria M, Harrison M, Stallings VA, editors. Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; 2019. Summary, Table S-1 (potassium adequate intakes: 3,400 mg/day men, 2,600 mg/day women, 19 years and older) and Table S-2 (sodium adequate intake 1,500 mg/day for adults; chronic disease risk reduction intake: reduce intakes if above 2,300 mg/day, 14 years and older). doi:10.17226/25353 (NCBI Bookshelf NBK538102)
6. Axe J. The High Blood Pressure Protocol. DrAxe.com. 2026. p. 3 (letter: thousands of people handed a prescription; high blood pressure as what your arteries and kidneys do when insulin runs high, the minerals that relax your vessels run low and your nervous system is in overdrive; I have watched it happen; the same 5-step path I use with patients; keep taking blood-pressure medication exactly as prescribed; its pull line, it was never just a salt problem), p. 11 (Step 2, Remineralize: arteries relax on magnesium and potassium; 4,000-4,700 mg of potassium a day from food; cook at home and season with herbs, citrus and garlic; packaged foods under 140 mg sodium a serving), p. 15 (top 10 blood-pressure foods, ranked; the pressure-lowering plate), supplement protocol (with kidney disease or a potassium-sparing, ACE or ARB drug, clear potassium and supplements with your prescriber first), p. 22 (troubleshooting and FAQ: about 70% of dietary sodium from packaged and restaurant food; the sodium-to-potassium ratio; medication changes only with your prescriber).
7. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Sodium in Your Diet: Use the Nutrition Facts Label and Reduce Your Intake. Updated 2024. Daily Value for sodium (less than 2,300 mg); 5% DV or less per serving is low, 20% DV or more is high; Americans average about 3,400 mg a day; over 70% of dietary sodium comes from packaged and prepared foods.
8. Axe J. Table Salt vs. Himalayan Salt: Which Is Better? The Dr. Axe Show. 2017. Minerals balance each other out at 3:49; use it sparingly, but a little every day, at 10:44 to 11:05; his triathlon energy mix of raw local honey and Himalayan salt at 13:30. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ul0q0_PTMvs&t=229s
9. Axe J. The Truth About LDL & Heart Disease. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. 2026. Sprinkling a mineral-rich salt on your food, with fruits high in potassium, at 36:50 to 37:11; the low-salt trial and sprinkling quality salt at 37:13 to 37:47. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpzqVv_b4OU&t=2210s
10. McDonough AA, Veiras LC, Guevara CA, Ralph DL. Cardiovascular benefits associated with higher dietary K(+) vs. lower dietary Na(+): evidence from population and mechanistic studies. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2017;312(4):E348-E356. doi:10.1152/ajpendo.00453.2016. PMID:28174181
11. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central: Salt, table (SR Legacy). FDC ID 173468. Sodium 38,800 mg per 100 g; 1 tsp = 6 g.
12. Farquhar WB, Edwards DG, Jurkovitz CT, Weintraub WS. Dietary sodium and health: more than just blood pressure. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2015;65(10):1042-50. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2014.12.039. PMID:25766952
13. Jackson SL, King SM, Zhao L, Cogswell ME. Prevalence of Excess Sodium Intake in the United States - NHANES, 2009-2012. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2016;64(52):1393-7. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6452a1. PMID:26741238
14. Bouvard V, Loomis D, Guyton KZ, Grosse Y, Ghissassi FE, Benbrahim-Tallaa L, et al. Carcinogenicity of consumption of red and processed meat. Lancet Oncol. 2015;16(16):1599-600. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(15)00444-1. PMID:26514947
15. Axe J. 10 Biblical Superfoods That Can Add Years to Your Life. The Dr. Josh Axe Show, Episode 393. September 28, 2026. Red-meat studies and grain-fed meat at 21:03.
16. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, SR Legacy and FNDDS records for the packaged and prepared comparisons on this page: oatmeal, instant, apples and cinnamon, dry (FDC 171663); vegetables, mixed, canned (170064); beans, black turtle, canned (175188); beans, black, canned, low sodium (175238); soup, lentil, canned (FNDDS 2707460) and reduced sodium (2707461); almonds, dry roasted, with salt added (168596); turkey breast, sliced, prepackaged (172941); frankfurter, beef, heated (174614); chicken breast, roasted (171477); bread, whole-wheat, commercially prepared (172688); soup stock, chicken, home-prepared (172884); soup, chicken broth, ready-to-serve (174536); soy sauce, shoyu (174277) and tamari (174278); pickles, dill (168558); olives, ripe, canned (169094); sauerkraut, canned (169279); miso (172442); cheese, feta (173420); cheese, cottage, creamed (172179). Accessed November 4, 2026.
17. Duyff RL, Mount JR, Jones JB. Sodium reduction in canned beans after draining, rinsing. J Culin Sci Technol. 2011;9(2):106-112. doi:10.1080/15428052.2011.582405
18. He FJ, Li J, Macgregor GA. Effect of longer term modest salt reduction on blood pressure: Cochrane systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials. BMJ. 2013;346:f1325. doi:10.1136/bmj.f1325. PMID:23558162
19. Aburto NJ, Hanson S, Gutierrez H, Hooper L, Elliott P, Cappuccio FP. Effect of increased potassium intake on cardiovascular risk factors and disease: systematic review and meta-analyses. BMJ. 2013;346:f1378. doi:10.1136/bmj.f1378. PMID:23558164
20. Neal B, Wu Y, Feng X, Zhang R, Zhang Y, Shi J, et al. Effect of Salt Substitution on Cardiovascular Events and Death. N Engl J Med. 2021;385(12):1067-1077. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2105675. PMID:34459569
21. Bertino M, Beauchamp GK, Engelman K. Long-term reduction in dietary sodium alters the taste of salt. Am J Clin Nutr. 1982;36(6):1134-44. doi:10.1093/ajcn/36.6.1134. PMID:7148734
22. Cook NR, Appel LJ, Whelton PK. Sodium Intake and All-Cause Mortality Over 20 Years in the Trials of Hypertension Prevention. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2016;68(15):1609-1617. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2016.07.745. PMID:27712772
23. McMahon EJ, Bauer JD, Hawley CM, Isbel NM, Stowasser M, Johnson DW, et al. A randomized trial of dietary sodium restriction in CKD. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2013;24(12):2096-103. doi:10.1681/ASN.2013030285. PMID:24204003
24. Axe J, Rubin J. The Biblio Diet. Hachette Book Group; 2025. ISBN 9781546008439. Salt chapter: the sodium content of different salts is similar, the difference is trace minerals and additives; people with hypertension or kidney disease may benefit from reduced sodium, but not everyone needs a low-sodium diet, including older adults and endurance athletes.
25. Gupta DK, Lewis CE, Varady KA, Su YR, Madhur MS, Lackland DT, et al. Effect of Dietary Sodium on Blood Pressure: A Crossover Trial. JAMA. 2023;330(23):2258-2266. doi:10.1001/jama.2023.23651. PMID:37950918
26. Graudal NA, Hubeck-Graudal T, Jurgens G. Effects of low sodium diet versus high sodium diet on blood pressure, renin, aldosterone, catecholamines, cholesterol, and triglyceride. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2020;12(12):CD004022. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD004022.pub5. PMID:33314019
27. Cook NR, Obarzanek E, Cutler JA, Buring JE, Rexrode KM, Kumanyika SK, et al. Joint effects of sodium and potassium intake on subsequent cardiovascular disease: the Trials of Hypertension Prevention follow-up study. Arch Intern Med. 2009;169(1):32-40. doi:10.1001/archinternmed.2008.523. PMID:19139321
28. Ma Y, He FJ, Sun Q, Yuan C, Kieneker LM, Curhan GC, et al. 24-Hour Urinary Sodium and Potassium Excretion and Cardiovascular Risk. N Engl J Med. 2022;386(3):252-263. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2109794. PMID:34767706
29. Axe J. The Truth About Cortisol Face and The Exact Steps To Fix It. The Dr. Josh Axe Show, Episode 371. July 13, 2026. Sodium holds water and potassium releases it at 11:04. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xJRhK-04k8&t=664s
30. Axe J. How to Hydrate Your Brain, Boost Energy & End Brain Fog. The Dr. Josh Axe Show. August 18, 2025. Too much sodium without enough potassium at 7:12; clean eaters not replacing salt at 11:02; sodium lost in sweat at 12:12. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8nmGynV_jjQ
31. Axe J. The Real Reason You Wake Up Tired Every Morning. The Dr. Josh Axe Show, Episode 377. August 3, 2026. Not overdoing salt, and potassium-rich foods, at 16:44 to 17:02. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYvHrFB_g50&t=1004s
32. Fayet-Moore F, Wibisono C, Carr P, Duve E, Petocz P, Lancaster G, et al. An Analysis of the Mineral Composition of Pink Salt Available in Australia. Foods. 2020;9(10):1490. doi:10.3390/foods9101490. PMID:33086585
33. Garg R, Williams GH, Hurwitz S, Brown NJ, Hopkins PN, Adler GK. Low-salt diet increases insulin resistance in healthy subjects. Metabolism. 2011;60(7):965-8. doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2010.09.005. PMID:21036373
34. Leung AM, Braverman LE, Pearce EN. History of U.S. iodine fortification and supplementation. Nutrients. 2012;4(11):1740-6. doi:10.3390/nu4111740. PMID:23201844
35. Axe J. Ancient Remedies. Little, Brown Spark; 2021. The water element and the salty flavor, in moderation (chapter "The Wisdom of Ancient Healing", running head p. 78); White Bean Soup, pp. 312-313.
36. The Holy Bible, King James Version. Job 6:6.
37. Juraschek SP, Woodward M, Sacks FM, Carey VJ, Miller ER 3rd, Appel LJ. Time Course of Change in Blood Pressure From Sodium Reduction and the DASH Diet. Hypertension. 2017;70(5):923-929. doi:10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.117.10017. PMID:28993451
38. Ezekowitz JA, Colin-Ramirez E, Ross H, Escobedo J, Macdonald P, Troughton R, et al. Reduction of dietary sodium to less than 100 mmol in heart failure (SODIUM-HF): an international, open-label, randomised, controlled trial. Lancet. 2022;399(10333):1391-1400. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(22)00369-5. PMID:35381194
39. Brand A, Visser ME, Schoonees A, Naude CE. Replacing salt with low-sodium salt substitutes (LSSS) for cardiovascular health in adults, children and pregnant women. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2022;8(8):CD015207. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD015207. PMID:35944931

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS

Doctor of Natural Medicine · Founder, DrAxe.com

Dr. Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, and multiple New York Times bestselling author. He has spent 20+ years in clinical practice helping people heal at the root cause and founded one of the most-visited natural-health platforms in the world.

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