WHO’s global population recommendation
WHO’s May 2026 fact sheet recommends less than 2,000 mg sodium per day for adults in the general population [1]. It frames sodium reduction as a broad public-health measure rather than an individualized prescription generated from a recipe site.
That number is useful when designing generally lower-sodium food patterns, but a cookbook should not imply that every reader with a medical condition has the same target.
Sources for this section: [1] Sodium reduction
DASH uses a different framework
The current NHLBI DASH plan lists 2,300 mg sodium per day and notes that 1,500 mg can lower blood pressure further [2]. DASH also describes an overall eating pattern rich in vegetables, fruits and whole grains with other food-group goals.
That is why a “lower-sodium cookbook” should not become a collection of mathematically tiny sodium numbers detached from the rest of the diet. The pattern and the actual reader context matter.
Sources for this section: [2] DASH eating plan
Current blood-pressure guidance focuses on the direction
The 2025 AHA/ACC high-blood-pressure guideline strongly recommends lifestyle changes including a heart-healthy eating pattern such as DASH and reducing sodium [3]. Medication decisions and cardiovascular-risk assessment remain clinical work.
For the site, the correct boundary is to help readers cook and shop in a way that supports lower sodium without presenting the cookbook as treatment for hypertension.
How recipes should use these numbers
Recipes can be formulated to avoid unnecessary sodium and can report their calculated sodium per serving. Meal plans can disclose the framework used if they are intentionally built to one.
The site should never silently choose the smallest published number merely because it sounds safer. Over-restriction and individualized medical needs are outside a generic recipe algorithm.
Sources for this section: [1] Sodium reduction · [2] DASH eating plan · [3] 2025 AHA/ACC/AANP/AAPA/ABC/ACCP/ACPM/AGS/AMA/ASPC/NMA/PCNA/SGIM Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines.
Sources
- Sodium reduction
World Health Organization. Sodium reduction fact sheet. 11 May 2026. Verified 1 Sept 2026. - DASH eating plan
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. DASH Eating Plan. Updated 25 February 2026. Verified 1 Sept 2026. - 2025 AHA/ACC/AANP/AAPA/ABC/ACCP/ACPM/AGS/AMA/ASPC/NMA/PCNA/SGIM Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Clinical Practice Guidelines.
2025 AHA/ACC/AANP/AAPA/ABC/ACCP/ACPM/AGS/AMA/ASPC/NMA/PCNA/SGIM Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults. Hypertension. 2025. PMID:40811516. Repointed from https://professional.heart.org/en/science-news/2025-high-blood-pressure-guideline/top-things-to-know, the American Heart Association's "Top Things to Know" summary page, which returns 403 to automated readers and renders nothing headless. The guideline it summarises is a published paper and can be quoted. Verified 1 Sept 2026.
