Sodium
NaToday
3-day window. Water-soluble and not stored, so a short run of days is the signal.
What it is
Essential in small amounts, and over-supplied in nearly every processed diet.
Reference intake
Your daily target, personalised to your age and sex.
- AI
- 1500 mgmale_19_plus
- Upper limit
- 2300 mgapplies to total
This is a Chronic Disease Risk Reduction intake, not a classical Tolerable Upper Intake Level. The 2019 DRI update withdrew sodium's UL because no threshold for acute toxicity could be identified, and replaced it with an intake above which reducing sodium is expected to lower cardiovascular risk. It means 'worth reducing', not 'dangerous'.
Full write-up not finished
The reference intake above is real and cited — Sodium is assessed against it exactly like any other nutrient. What is missing is the written panel: what it does in detail, what deficiency and excess look like, absorption, interactions, and food sources ranked against what you eat.
Entries live in data/nutrients.json. Filling this one in changes no code.
Sources
Last reviewed 2026-08-11