Final answer:
Most healthy adults should limit their daily sodium intake to less than 2300 mg according to the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The majority of dietary sodium comes from processed foods and added salt, with recommendations to read food labels and choose low-sodium options.
Step-by-step explanation:
According to the 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, most healthy adults should limit their daily sodium intake to less than 2300 mg/day. It is important to note that the majority of sodium in our diets comes from processed foods or is added manually using a salt shaker.
To reduce sodium intake, health guidelines suggest stopping the addition of salt to meals and starting to pay close attention to food labels, which often indicate the sodium content. Foods that are considered low in sodium contain less than 140 mg per serving, or 5% of the Daily Value.
High consumption of sodium is of concern for many physicians and nutritionists, as most individuals consume significantly more than the essential daily intake of approximately 500 mg. The average American consumes about 3,436 milligrams of sodium per day, well above the recommended limit.
Although the connection between sodium intake and high blood pressure has been debated, efforts to reduce daily intake include avoiding processed foods, reading packaged food labels, not oversalting, and using spices other than salt for cooking.