Soy Sauce

Food · Pantry & Condiment · Food, Typed Supps

The saltiest thing in most kitchens — and a tablespoon is half a day’s sodium.

Stage by stage

Umami (Taste receptors): Free glutamate from fermentation deepens flavour and makes less salt elsewhere feel like enough.
Concentrated (Stomach): 5,600 mg of sodium per 100 g — around three times as salty as seawater.
Sodium load (Circulation): One tablespoon is roughly 1,000 mg, half a day’s suggested target.
Wheat (Gut): Standard brewed soy sauce contains wheat. Tamari is the traditionally wheat-free version.

Timing

Late in cooking, or at the table. Long simmering drives off the aromatic compounds and leaves you with the salt.

Time to effect

2–4 weeks: How quickly blood pressure responds to cutting sodium.
Per tablespoon: Around 1,000 mg of sodium, which is the number worth remembering.

Allergens

Contains: Soya. May contain: Gluten, Sulphites. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher, Keto. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP, Gluten-free.

Satiety

Not scored: the satiety index is measured on 240 kcal servings, and nobody eats a 240 kcal serving of this. The question does not apply rather than the answer being unknown.

Cost band

Mid — roughly £5 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Sodium
Protein
Molybdenum

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 50
Protein: 6.8g
Carbohydrate: 3.2g
of which sugars: 2.2g
Sodium: 5600mg

Food vs. supplement

Soy sauce is a case where the flavour chemistry works in your favour: the free glutamate makes food taste more seasoned than the salt alone would, so a measured smaller amount often lands where a free pour was aiming.

Kitchen tip

Put it in a dish and dip rather than pouring over the plate. The same flavour arrives on a fraction of the sodium, because only what sticks gets eaten.

Common myth

“I use the reduced-salt one, so it’s fine.” In reality: Reduced-salt soy sauce is around 3,934 mg of sodium per 100 g against the standard 5,600 — a genuine 30% cut, and still one of the saltiest things you will eat. A tablespoon is about 700 mg. It is a good swap and not a solution; measuring the pour does more than switching the bottle.