Making Sense of the Science of Sodium

Despite the Institute of Medicine’s commitment to base its nutrient intake recommendations in evidence, the 2004/2005 Dietary Reference Intakes for sodium were not supported by evidence, as the subsequent 2013 Institute of Medicine review admitted. In this review, I suggest an approach to setting nutrient intake requirements based in physiology. Briefly, the requirement of a given nutrient can best be said to be the intake that calls for the least adaptation or compensation by the intact organism. For sodium, evidence indicates that such an intake is typically between 3000 and 5000 mg/d.