The World Health Organization advises adults to eat less than 5 g of salt a day, about one level teaspoon in total. For people with high blood pressure, the 2025 AHA/ACC guideline suggests aiming even lower, at about 1,500 mg of sodium, which is close to 3.8 g of salt.
Most of us eat much more, and the shaker is only part of it.
The usual sources
- Cooking salt in dal, sabzi, dough and rice.
- Pickles and papad. A single tablespoon of mango pickle or one roasted papad can carry a large share of a day's limit.
- Packaged snacks such as namkeen, chips, bhujia and salted biscuits.
- Ready mixes and sauces, including instant noodles, soup powders, ketchup and soy sauce.
- Restaurant and street food, where gravies and chaat masala add salt you can't see.
- Bread and bakery items, which taste only mildly salty but are eaten often.
Cutting back without losing flavour
- Add salt at the end of cooking, not the start. You will need less for the same taste.
- Use lemon, amchur, kokum, tamarind, garlic, ginger, curry leaves and roasted jeera to brighten food.
- Keep pickle and papad for occasions, not every meal.
- Read labels: in India, packaged foods list sodium per 100 g. Compare brands and pick the lower one.
- Reduce gradually. Taste buds adjust in a few weeks, and food you once found bland starts to taste normal.
Why it works
In the original DASH trials, a pattern rich in vegetables, fruit, pulses and low-fat dairy lowered blood pressure within weeks, and lowering salt on top of it lowered it further. Ayush's DASH-style plans use Indian dishes that follow the same idea.
Sources
- Sodium reduction fact sheet. World Health Organization.
- 2025 AHA/ACC/Multisociety Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Management of High Blood Pressure in Adults. Jones DW, et al. Hypertension, 2025;82(10):e212–e316.
- A clinical trial of the effects of dietary patterns on blood pressure (DASH). Appel LJ, et al. New England Journal of Medicine, 1997.
- Dietary Guidelines for Indians (2024 edition). ICMR – National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad.
This is general information, not medical advice. Keep taking your medicines as prescribed and talk to your doctor about your own situation.