How Much Sodium on Keto? Salt Limits and Salty Foods (UK)

On this page

1. How much sodium should you have on keto?
2. Is salt keto?
3. Keto and cutting down on salt
4. Salted vs plain versions of the same food
5. Keto foods with the most salt
6. Sauces, stocks and seasonings
7. How it adds up: an example day
8. Reading salt on labels
9. Who should check with a GP first
10. FAQs
11. Sources

How much sodium should you have on keto, and is salt something to add or cut back? This guide sets out the NHS daily salt limits and what they mean in sodium, how much sodium is in common keto foods, sauces and stocks according to the UK's official food composition data (CoFID), how to read salt on a food label, and who should check with a GP first. For sodium alongside potassium, magnesium and calcium, see our guide to keto electrolytes.

How much sodium should you have on keto?

The NHS doesn't give a different figure for keto or other low-carb diets, so its limits are the ones to go by. They're given as salt, so we've added the sodium equivalent, using the legal formula for UK labels: salt is sodium multiplied by 2.5.

Salt limits from the NHS. Sodium worked out as salt ÷ 2.5. The British Dietetic Association gives the same limits for ages 1 and over, and says they're recommended by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN).

The NHS says 6g is around 1 level teaspoon, and that it includes the salt already in our food as well as the salt added during and after cooking. It also says around three quarters of the salt we eat comes from packaged and everyday foods, such as bread, breakfast cereals, meat products and ready meals.

Some keto guides suggest adding extra salt. UK health bodies don't give a separate figure for keto, so the limits above still apply. If you've been told by a doctor to have more or less salt than this, follow their advice.

Is salt keto?

Yes. CoFID lists table salt with 0g of carbohydrate per 100g, so salt adds no carbs to a keto diet. It lists 39,300mg of sodium per 100g of table salt. The question on keto isn't whether salt fits, but how much of it you have.

The same goes for salty foods. Many of the saltiest foods in the tables below, such as anchovies, ham and kippers, have little or no carbohydrate, so they fit a keto diet easily. That's why it's worth keeping an eye on the salt, not just the carbs.

Keto and cutting down on salt

A lot of people search for "low sodium vs keto diet", as if you have to choose. The two aren't the same thing. A ketogenic diet limits carbohydrate, usually to 20–50g a day according to the British Dietetic Association. Keeping salt down is about staying within the NHS limit of 6g a day. You can do both.

How much salt a keto diet has depends on what you eat. In CoFID, the cured meats, smoked fish, cheeses, olives and pickles we checked all have far more sodium than the plain meat, fish, eggs, vegetables and nuts we checked. These unprocessed foods all have under 0.2g of sodium per 100g:

CoFID 2021 food codes 12-940, 18-469, 18-323, 13-502, 13-512, 14-386 and 14-896. Salt worked out as sodium × 2.5.

The NHS suggests adding flavour with herbs and spices, black pepper, garlic, chilli or lemon juice instead of salt, and tasting your food before adding any more.

Salted vs plain versions of the same food

Salt added in curing, smoking, pickling or seasoning makes a big difference. Here are pairs of similar foods from CoFID, with and without added salt:

CoFID 2021 food codes 17-685, 17-661, 14-834, 14-877, 14-812, 14-811, 13-246, 13-245, 16-491, 16-372, 19-505 and 18-526. Salt worked out as sodium × 2.5 and rounded.

So 10g of salted butter has about 0.18g of salt, and the same amount of unsalted butter almost none. The NHS suggests choosing unsalted nuts, and the BDA suggests choosing tinned fish that isn't in brine (salt water).

Keto foods with the most salt

These are some of the saltiest low-carb foods in CoFID. Our keto electrolytes guide has the figures for bacon, salami, olives, halloumi, feta, smoked salmon and Cheddar.

CoFID 2021 food codes 16-448, 19-516, 17-132, 16-397, 19-496, 12-367, 19-509, 12-345, 13-336, 12-344 and 12-360. Chorizo figures are manufacturers' data. Carbohydrate excludes fibre, as on UK labels.

The NHS lists cured meats and fish, cheese, olives and pickles as salty foods to eat less often or in small amounts. The BDA adds smoked meat and fish, and meat and yeast extracts. Pork sausages have more carbs than anything else in this table, at 9.8g per 100g, so check the label.

At Christmas, gammon, pigs in blankets (sausage wrapped in bacon) and gravy all add salt to the plate. Our keto Christmas dinner guide covers the carbs in every part of the meal.

Sauces, stocks and seasonings

Stock cubes, soy sauce and gravy granules add a lot of sodium for their weight. The NHS suggests not using too many salty sauces, such as soy sauce, gravy granules, ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise and brown sauce. Here are the CoFID figures:

CoFID 2021 food codes 17-367, 17-726, 17-680, 17-721, 17-724, 17-517, 17-364, 17-723, 17-622, 17-774, 17-725 and 17-654. CoFID works out the made-up stock cube as a 7g cube in 190ml of water, and the made-up gravy as 23.5g of granules in 300ml of water.

A few things to bear in mind:

• Made up, they're more diluted. A chicken stock cube made up with water has 1.4g of salt per 100g, against 40.8g for the dry cube.
• Some add carbs too. CoFID lists 17.9g of carbs per 100g for soy sauce and 65.2g for dry gravy granules.
• Some brands have less salt. The NHS suggests trying low or reduced-salt soy sauce and stock cubes.
• Homemade gravy has salt as well. Our keto gravy recipe has 0.89g of salt per 90ml serving, before any salt you add to taste.

How it adds up: an example day

Here's how much sodium a few everyday keto foods add up to, using CoFID figures and our electrolyte drink label. The amounts are just an example, not a recommended day:

CoFID 2021 food codes 19-500, 12-346, 18-323, 17-685 and 17-654. Salt for foods worked out as sodium × 2.5. Keto Electrolytes figures are from the label (0.40g sodium and 1.02g salt per 5g scoop).

That's about 3.7g of salt, before any salt added in cooking or at the table. Going by the NHS's guide that 6g is around a level teaspoon, a quarter of a teaspoon of salt is about another 1.5g, which would bring the day to about 5.2g.

Low-carb bread and wraps contain salt as well. The NHS lists bread among the foods most of our salt comes from, so check the label on whichever you use. Our Low Carb Keto Bread label shows 1.4g of salt per 100g and 0.3g per slice.

Reading salt on labels

The NHS says nutrition labels on pre-packed food must show salt, and that the figures are given per 100g or per 100ml, sometimes per portion as well. By law, the salt figure is the sodium content multiplied by 2.5, so to turn salt into sodium, divide by 2.5. The BDA says some manufacturers also show sodium, but this isn't required by law.

• Per 100g: the NHS says a food has a high amount of salt if it has more than 1.5g of salt per 100g (0.6g of sodium), and a low amount at 0.3g of salt or less per 100g (0.1g of sodium). Different criteria are used for drinks.
• Colour coding: on front-of-pack labels, red means high, amber means medium and green means low. The NHS suggests looking for products with green and amber labels for salt.
• Reference intakes: the "% RI" for salt on a label is based on 6g, the reference intake for adults set in UK food law.
• Portions: the NHS points out that the manufacturer's idea of a portion may be different from yours, so check the per 100g column too.

Electrolyte drinks and salt

Electrolyte drinks and powders count towards your salt for the day. One 5g scoop of our Keto Electrolytes has 0.40g of sodium, which is 1.02g of salt, according to the labels, along with 504mg of potassium, about 50mg of magnesium and 20mg of vitamin C. It comes in three flavours: lemon, forest fruits and passionfruit papaya. Two scoops give 2.04g of salt, about a third of the NHS limit.

Free delivery on orders over £30.

Figures from the product labels: Keto Electrolytes checked 30 October 2026, Low Carb Keto Bread checked 1 November 2026.

Who should check with a GP first

Here's what UK health bodies say about salt and salt substitutes:

• Too much salt: the NHS says eating too much salt can cause high blood pressure, which increases the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
• Salt substitutes: NICE says salt substitutes containing potassium chloride should not be used by older people, people with diabetes, pregnant women, people with kidney disease and people taking some blood pressure medicines, such as ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers. The BDA says gourmet salts and salt substitutes "are likely to still increase salt intake".
• Medicines: the NHS says some dissolvable tablets, such as painkillers, vitamins or prescription medicines, can contain a lot of salt, and to speak to your GP before changing any medicines.
• Pregnancy: the BDA says ketogenic diets should not be followed by women who are pregnant.

Our Keto Electrolytes contain salt and potassium. If you have kidney or heart problems or high blood pressure, take any medicines, or are pregnant, ask your GP or pharmacist before you use them.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• NHS. Salt in your diet.
• NHS. Food labels.
• British Dietetic Association. Salt: food fact sheet.
• British Dietetic Association. Low carb diets food fact sheet.
• NICE. Hypertension in adults: diagnosis and management (NG136), recommendation 1.4.5.
• Retained Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on food information to consumers: Annex I (definition of salt) and Annex XIII (reference intakes), via legislation.gov.uk.
• Public Health England / Food Standards Agency. Composition of Foods Integrated Dataset (CoFID) 2021: sheets 1.3 Proximates and 1.4 Inorganics, food codes 12-344 (Cheese, Brie, with outer rind removed), 12-345 (Cheese, Camembert), 12-346 (Cheese, Cheddar, English), 12-360 (Cheese, Mozzarella, fresh), 12-367 (Cheese, Stilton, blue), 12-940 (Eggs, chicken, whole, boiled), 13-245 (Gherkins, raw), 13-246 (Gherkins, pickled, drained), 13-336 (Sauerkraut), 13-502 (Broccoli, green, raw), 13-512 (Cauliflower, raw), 14-340 (Olives, green, in brine, drained, flesh and skin), 14-386 (Avocado, Hass, flesh only), 14-811 (Cashew nuts, kernel only, plain), 14-812 (Cashew nuts, kernel only, roasted and salted), 14-834 (Peanuts, roasted and salted), 14-877 (Peanuts, kernel only, plain, unsalted), 14-896 (Almonds, whole kernels), 16-372 (Cod, flesh only, raw), 16-397 (Kippers, flesh only, grilled), 16-448 (Anchovies, canned in oil, drained), 16-491 (Cod, flesh only, salted and smoked, raw), 17-132 (Pork scratchings), 17-364 (Mustard, smooth), 17-367 (Salt), 17-517 (Yeast extract), 17-622 (Pesto, green), 17-654 (Mayonnaise, standard, retail), 17-661 (Butter, unsalted), 17-680 (Stock gel), 17-685 (Butter, salted), 17-721 (Soy sauce, light and dark varieties), 17-723 (Worcestershire sauce), 17-724 (Gravy instant granules), 17-725 (Gravy instant granules, made up with water), 17-726 (Stock cubes, chicken), 17-774 (Stock cubes, chicken, made up with water), 18-323 (Chicken, breast, grilled without skin, meat only), 18-469 (Beef, mince, raw), 18-526 (Pork, loin steaks, grilled, lean and fat), 19-496 (Ham), 19-500 (Bacon rashers, back, grilled), 19-505 (Ham, gammon rashers, grilled), 19-509 (Sausages, pork, chilled, grilled), 19-516 (Chorizo), 19-517 (Salami).
• Groovy Keto product labels: Keto Electrolytes Powder (lemon), (forest fruits) and (passionfruit papaya), checked 30 October 2026, and Low Carb Keto Bread, checked 1 November 2026. Salt per serving for our keto gravy from its recipe card.