The daily sodium intake guidelines offered by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are “excessively and unrealistically low,” according to a new study from researchers at the University of Copenhagen Hospital in Denmark and published in the American Journal of Hypertension.

Because sodium intake is linked with cardiovascular disease, national guidelines promote sodium reduction in order to prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) suggest a sodium intake of less than 2,300 mg per day for people under 50 years old, and less than 1,500 mg per day for people over 50 years old.

Doubt was first cast on the CDC recommendations in a 2013 report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) – of which lead author of the new study, Dr. Niels Graudal, is a member. That report, however, was unable to offer its own recommendations for sodium intake.

The new analysis combines the results of 25 individual studies on health risks associated with sodium intake, assessing 274,683 people in total.

“Our results are in line with the IOM’s concern that lower levels could produce harm,” says Dr. Graudal, “and they provide a concrete basis for revising the recommended range in the best interest of public health.”

“The good news,” he continues, “is that around 95% of the global population already consumes within the range we’ve found to generate the least instances of mortality and cardiovascular disease.”