Sodium: How to Tame Your Salt Habit

Find out how much sodium you need and learn how getting too much might affect your health.

Are you getting more sodium than health experts suggest is wise? If so, it could lead to serious health problems.

The daily limit set by nutrition experts in the U.S. is 2,300 milligrams (mg) a day for people ages 14 and older. And for that reason, many people worldwide take in more sodium than their bodies need. This can put them at higher risk of a long-term illness such as high blood pressure, also called hypertension.

Higher sodium, higher risks
By and large, eating less sodium is linked to lower blood pressure. That could help prevent dangerous problems such as heart attack and stroke.

How much sodium is too much?
Keep in mind that less is better, especially if you’re sensitive to sodium. If you aren’t sure how much sodium your diet should include, talk to your health care provider. Or you could meet with a dietitian, a health care provider who gives advice about diet and nutrition.

What foods have sodium?
Many recipes call for salt, and many people also salt their food at the table. Condiments also may contain sodium. One tablespoon of soy sauce, for example, has about 1,000 mg of sodium.

Some foods naturally contain sodium. These include all vegetables and dairy products, meat, and shellfish. These foods don’t have a lot of sodium. But eating them does add to the overall amount of sodium in your body.

How do I cut back on sodium?
Almost everyone can find a way to eat less sodium. Some ways you can cut back are:

• Eat more fresh foods. Most fresh fruits and vegetables are naturally low in sodium. Also, fresh meat is lower in sodium than are lunchmeat, bacon, hot dogs, sausage and ham.
• Choose low-sodium products. If you buy processed foods, such as broth or ready-to-cook dishes, choose ones that are labeled low sodium. Or buy plain whole-grain rice and pasta.
• Eat at home. Restaurant foods and meals are often high in sodium. A single entree may contain enough sodium to reach or go above your daily limit.
• Remove salt from recipes whenever possible. You can leave out the salt in many recipes. Look for cookbooks that focus on lowering risks of high blood pressure and heart disease.
• Replace salt with other flavorings. Use fresh or dried herbs, spices, and zest and juice from citrus fruit to make your meals tasty.
• Go easy on the condiments. Soy sauce, salad dressings, sauces, dips, ketchup, mustard and relish all contain sodium.

Check the label
So how can you tell which foods are high in sodium? Read food labels. The Nutrition Facts label found on most packaged and processed foods lists the amount of sodium in each serving. It also lists whether the ingredients include salt or items that contain sodium, such as:

• Monosodium glutamate (MSG)
• Baking soda, also called sodium bicarbonate
• Baking powder
• Disodium phosphate
• Sodium alginate
• Sodium citrate
• Sodium nitrite

Try to stay away from products with more than 200 mg of sodium a serving. And be sure you know how many servings are in a package.

Learn the lingo
The supermarket is full of foods labeled reduced sodium or light in sodium. But don’t assume that means they’re low in sodium. It just means the products have less sodium than do the regular versions of the products.

Go low and take it slow
The key is to slowly cut back on foods that are high in sodium. And that doesn’t mean you have to stop eating your favorite foods. For example, you could use fresh, lower sodium ingredients to make your own pizza instead of ordering in.

When you go grocery shopping, read nutrition labels to find out how much sodium a product has. You can look for reduced- or low-sodium versions of any prepared foods you buy often.

Slowly cut back on table salt. Try salt-free seasonings to help make the change. After a few weeks of this, you might not miss the saltshaker.

As you eat less sodium and salt, your craving for it might fade. And that could help you enjoy the taste of the food itself, with heart-healthy benefits.