Low Salt Diet

Some facts about sodium:

• Salt is made up of 2 minerals sodium and chloride. Sodium is the part of salt that some people have to limit in the diet. Sodium is not salty! Chloride is the salty part of salt.

• Sodium is needed to help maintain the water balance in the body. A healthy body keeps this balance and will get rid of extra sodium. The average person eats 10 to 20 times more sodium than we need. Our body only requires 500 milligrams of sodium each day, which is less than 1/3 of a teaspoon of salt.

• Sodium is found in almost all foods. Salt is the major source of sodium in the diet.

Why should I limit salt?

• Excess sodium can draw fluid into the body and trap it there. The trapped fluid can cause a person’s blood pressure to go up, or a person’s hands, feet, or abdomen to swell.

• Fluid can also be trapped in the lungs causing difficulty breathing.

• Excess sodium causes the arteries to lose their elasticity. So the arteries become hard and rigid.

• A low salt diet is used in the treatment of diseases such as hypertension, cirrhosis, renal disease, heart disease, and respiratory diseases.

How do I cut back on salt?

• Most of the sodium in the diet comes from adding salt when food is prepared. Cutting back on the salt that is added to food will reduce the sodium in the diet.

• The nutrition labels on foods tell you how much sodium is in the food. If the sodium content is 400 milligrams or more per serving, then it is a high sodium food. Any word that has sodium in its name tells you that sodium is in the food. Below is a list of healthy food choices that will help you follow a low salt diet

• Limit eating out, since many foods are often prepared with salt and salty ingredients.

FOOD GUIDE FOR A LOW SALT DIET

Grains:

Healthy Food Choices

It’s best to avoid these foods

Helpful Tips

Breads and rolls without salted tops, muffins

• Dry cereals without nuts, plain cooked cereals

• Unsalted crackers and breadsticks

• Plain rice and pastas

• Low salt snack foods

Breads, rolls, and crackers with salted tops

• Quick breads, self-rising flour, and biscuit and cornbread mixes

• Instant hot cereals

• Seasoned rice, pasta, or stuffing mixes

Prepare rice and pasta without salt; may use herbs and seasonings without salt to add flavor

Vegetables:

Healthy Food Choices

It’s best to avoid these foods

Helpful Tips

• All fresh, frozen, and low salt canned vegetables

• Low salt and salt-free vegetable juices

Regular canned vegetables and juices

• Sauerkraut and pickled vegetables

• Frozen vegetables with sauces

• Seasoned potato and vegetable mixes

May use low salt bouillon to flavor vegetables

Fruits:

Healthy Food Choices

It’s best to avoid these foods

Helpful Tips

All fresh, frozen, and canned fruits

• All fruit juices

Dried fruits, processed with salt

Milk:

Healthy Food Choices

It’s best to avoid these foods

Helpful Tips

Limit milk to 2 cups per day

• Yogurt

• Most low-sodium cheeses including ricotta, cream cheese, Swiss cheese and cottage cheese

Limit buttermilk to 1 cup per week

• Malted and chocolate milk

• Evaporated and condensed milk

• Regular and processed cheese, cheese spread and sauces

Meat and Protein:

Healthy Food Choices

It’s best to avoid these foods

Helpful Tips

• Any fresh or frozen beef, pork, poultry, and fish

• Eggs and egg substitutes

• Low-sodium peanut butter

• Dry beans and peas prepared without salt

• Smoked, cured, salted, or canned meats, fish, or poultry

• Shellfish

• Ham, bacon, sausage

• Packaged processed meats such as chipped beef, luncheon meats, hot dogs, sardines, and anchovies

• Frozen breaded meats

• Salted nuts

• TV type dinners (unless low salt)

• Canned and packaged meals such as “SpaghettiOs, “Hamburger helper” and macaroni and cheese

• Choose frozen dinners with less than 500 mg sodium per serving

Fats, Oils, and Sweets

Healthy Food Choices

It’s best to avoid these foods

Helpful Tips

• Low salt or unsalted butter, margarine, salad dressings, soups, soy sauce, condiments, and snack foods

• Pepper, herbs, and spices, vinegar, lemon or lime juice

• Low salt soft drinks

• Regular salad dressings

• Regular and low salt soups

• Gravy and sauce mixes

• Olives

• Salted snack foods

• Salt, lite salt, MSG, herbs and spices with salt added

• Cake mixes, and instant dessert mixes

• Gatorade, sports drinks, and commercially softened waters

In addition to making the right food choices, it’s also important to:

Read food labels when shopping

• Instead of adding salt, increase flavor of foods with herbs, spices, seasonings without sodium, lemon juice, and vinegar

• Salt can be omitted or reduced in most recipes

Do not use convenience foods and packaged meats often

• When eating out make healthy choices and ask that salt not be added to your food

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