Most Chinese adults are eating way more salt than doctors recommend — on average, almost double the safe amount.

People in Shanxi Province who are hospitalized with high blood pressure are peeing out about 11.5 grams of salt every day — that’s roughly two teaspoons of table salt.

People in remote, pre-industrial communities eat way less salt—between 1 and 3 grams a day—compared to over 9 grams in modern industrialized places, based on urine tests that measure salt levels.

For people who already have heart disease, eating just the right amount of salt — not too little and not too much — seems to be linked to the lowest chance of heart problems or dying from any cause. Too little or too much salt might actually be riskier.

If you eat a lot of salt—like 18 grams a day for 10 days—your body will flush out more salt in your urine and also have a bit more salt in your blood, which proves you actually ate the salty food they gave you.

Chinese adults who say they like salty food tend to have more salt in their urine over 24 hours than those who prefer less salty food — suggesting that if you like salt, you're probably eating more of it.