Eating less salt in everyday life: Where salt is found and how to eat less of it

22. September 2026 ca. 17 Minuten

What to expect in this article

Low-salt diet: Why can’t you see most of the salt?

Because most of it is already in the food before it reaches your shopping cart. According to the DGE (2023), average table salt intake is 8.4 g per day for women and 10.0 g for men aged 18 to 79.

The shaker on the table is the visible part of the equation. It’s also where advice often focuses, because you can reach for it. The DGE figures point in another direction: they draw attention to what’s already packaged on the shelf.

Table salt in Germany

Source: German Nutrition Society, FAQ on table salt, 2023. According to the DGE, the data source for both averages is DEGS, the Study on the Health of Adults in Germany.

An average is the mean across a group that was studied. It shows where Germany stands on average. It doesn’t say where you stand, and this article doesn’t calculate that for you either.

Where does the salt in Germany come from?

From processed foods. The DGE (2023) names four food groups: bread, meat, sausage, cheese.

Here, processed doesn’t mean a ready meal in a plastic tray. A farmhouse loaf from a bakery is a processed food, and so is a piece of Gouda. If you’re only thinking of the freezer aisle, you’re looking in the wrong place.

The source lists the four groups, but does not break them down by share. It doesn’t say how much comes from bread and how much from cheese. The order in the sentence isn’t a ranking, and this article doesn’t make one either.

What does a low-salt diet mean, and where does the guideline value stand?

In this article, eating less salt means moving away from the average and toward the guideline value shown in the figures above, while the World Health Organization sets a somewhat lower target of less than 5 g of salt per day (WHO, 2026). A guideline value is a reference figure for the population, not a personal recommendation for you.

Where these figures come from and how to convert sodium in table salt are covered in the article how much sodium per day. This article doesn’t repeat that. It takes the figure as a benchmark and goes straight to the supermarket.

What changes when you eat less salt?

Two things to note. Your taste adjusts, and your intake moves from the average toward the guideline value. The sources for this article don’t say anything beyond that.

The idea about taste is everyday experience, not a study finding. If you use less salt, after a while salty foods taste saltier. The sources for this article don’t say how long that takes, so there’s no figure here.

In practice, advice to eat less salt often goes hand in hand with the topic of blood pressure; this article’s sources provide no figures on that, so there’s no promise here about a reading.

And the counter-question of whether you can eat too little salt: with a typical diet, none of this article’s sources raises that as an issue. What’s missing here won’t be made up.

Where is the salt: in four food groups or in the salt shaker?

In the four groups listed by the DGE (2023). Salt shakers are not listed as a separate group.

The table puts the four groups alongside the salt shaker. The left side shows what the source tells us. The right side shows what it doesn’t, because a table without this column promises more than the source says.

How can you tell how much salt is in food when shopping?

In two places on the package: the ingredients list and the nutrition facts table. The nutrition facts table is the listing that gives amounts per 100 g, and that’s exactly what makes two packages comparable.

This per-100 g comparison is the only thing you can actually check in the store. It doesn’t tell you whether a value is high or low. This article doesn’t give a threshold because its sources don’t provide one. But it does tell you which of the two packages contains less salt, and that’s all you need to decide in the store.

Processed foods have come up in this guide before. What they have to do with your body’s response after a meal is covered in the article Blood Sugar Levels and Weight Loss.

How do you cook with less salt using herbs and spices?

The DGE (2023) recommends using spices and herbs instead of table salt to season food in the kitchen. This is the only kitchen tip in this article that comes from a source; everything else in this chapter is practical guidance.

If you cook for yourself, you control the salt shaker. If you reheat prepared food, you already made that decision at the store. It’s not the salt shaker that makes the difference, but what’s already chopped and waiting in the fridge.

Cooking for yourself also means you can see what goes in. An example of a dinner you can put together yourself is in the article Eating in the Evening.

A low-salt diet when eating out: What can you do at a restaurant?

When eating out, there’s no nutrition label. So all you can do is use what’s in your hands: taste the food first, then decide whether you need the salt shaker at all.

To be honest, the sources in this article provide no figures for meals eaten out. What’s written here is practical guidance, not a measurement. Anyone promising more hasn’t read the source.

The same applies when topping a roll on the go as at the supermarket. According to the DGE (2023), bread, meat, sausage, and cheese are the food groups in question, and when you’re on the go, they often end up on the same plate.

If you use salt, which kind?

The DGE (2023) makes one point about this: If you use table salt, choose salt enriched with iodine and fluoride.

That’s all the source provides. It says nothing about iodine supply in Germany, so neither does this article. The sources in this article say nothing about sea salt or rock salt. If you read a recommendation about them, ask what it is based on.

Sodium and potassium: What does a look at your blood tell you?

What you eat is an estimated amount. What is measured in your blood is a different measure. This article does not combine the two.

How sodium and potassium in the blood are interpreted together is covered in the article Sodium-Potassium Ratio in the Blood. It isn’t explained here because it’s already explained there.

In everyday life, that means the shopping list is the lever you control yourself. A lab result belongs in a conversation with your primary care provider.

What does a DNA test say about sodium, and what doesn’t it say?

It describes a genetic predisposition related to sodium. It says nothing about your blood pressure; that’s measured by a device, not a gene.

mybody®x (MYBODY Lab GmbH) offers the NutriCare INFINITY DNA Test for this purpose. It includes, among other things, a report on sodium based on the genetic variations AGT and CLCNKA. A genetic variation is a location in the genome that differs from person to person.

What the report doesn’t do: it doesn’t diagnose you as salt-sensitive. It doesn’t say that, and neither does this article. What it does provide is a starting point for considering how to adapt your diet to your own genetic makeup.

The test isn’t a verdict. It’s just one data point alongside your grocery list.

Limitations: What this article can’t do

It doesn’t give a personal threshold or say how it affects blood pressure. It also doesn’t provide a figure for individual foods.

The two figures in Chapter 1 are averages. They describe a group that was studied, not you. If you want to know where you stand, an average won’t get you any closer.

Anyone with kidney disease or a doctor’s instructions to limit salt should follow their healthcare provider’s advice, not this article. And anyone with a medical condition, taking medication, or pregnant should discuss dietary changes with their primary care provider beforehand.

The steps you take while shopping and cooking are practical tips, not study findings. This article documents where the salt in Germany comes from and the average intake (DGE, 2023).

What can you do starting tomorrow?

Choose one food group that you buy every week and compare the salt content per 100 g on two packages of the same type. One group is enough to get started.

The following week, add the second group. If you change everything at once, after two weeks you’ll be faced with a plate of food you don’t like and give up.

There are already spices and herbs in the kitchen cupboard. The DGE (2023) lists them as what to use for seasoning instead of table salt, and that’s all you need to get started. How to put together the rest of your plate is covered in the article Nutrient Distribution for Weight Loss.

The salt shaker can stay in the cupboard. The decision is made at the checkout.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

1. German Nutrition Society: FAQ on table salt (as of 2023) – dge.de
2. World Health Organization: Fact sheet Sodium reduction (2026) – who.int

The average table salt intake, the guideline value, the four food groups, and the advice on seasoning come from source [1]; the DGE cites DEGS, the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults, as the data source for the average values. The WHO recommendation of less than 5 g of salt per day comes from source [2]. The price and image of the test mentioned were taken from the mybody®x shop live on 22.09.2026; the scope and sample type come from the mybody®x product description (as of 10.08.2026).