Salt, Sodium, and Your Health: Sodium 101

The main sources of sodium in
the average U.S. diet. (Mayo Clinic)

Salt is a favorite seasoning of most people, but too much can lead to high blood pressure and to weight gain.

Some sodium is important to your health-- in small doses it helps maintain the right balance of fluids in the body, helps transmit nerve impulses, and influences the contraction and relaxation of muscles. For an average, healthy adult, the daily intake of sodium should be about 2,300 mg, or about one teaspoon of table salt.

Most Americans consume way more than that, which can lead to health problems. Here are some tips to keep your sodium intake low, both while you're losing weight and after, to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Avoid:

• Canned vegetables- use fresh vegetable whenever possible. If you can't use fresh, use frozen. Canned vegetables are packed in a lot of sodium, so if you must use them, rinse them very well before cooking/eating. Some companies are coming out with no salt added canned vegetables; keep your eyes open!
• Cheese- Be careful with cheese. Cheeses like Mozzarella or Swiss usually are lower in sodium than others, but always check the labels!
• Canned Soup- Canned soups are very high in sodium, so avoid them. You can easily make your own soup using salt substitutes and salt-free seasonings and herbs. If you must buy canned soup, look for low sodium versions, just make sure you read the labels and don't overindulge.
• Breadcrumbs- use dry oats instead.
• Salted Meat- Avoid bacon, ham, lunch meats unless they are low-sodium.
• Condiments- salsa, soy sauce, ketchup-- keep an eye out for low sodium versions.
• Snack foods- chips, crackers, nuts, fries, pretzels, pickles, olives--snack sparingly, if at all.
• Salt- replace the table salt and salt in recipes with a salt substitute such as Nu-Salt. When seasoning, try Mrs. Dash or other salt free seasoning mixes and herbs.

Check out the MayoClinic for more information about the effect of sodium on health. See below for their helpful guide to reading labels to gage sodium levels.

Many food packages include sodium-related terms. Here's what they mean:

• Sodium-free or salt-free. Each serving in this product contains less than 5 mg of sodium.
• Very low sodium. Each serving contains 35 mg of sodium or less.
• Low sodium. Each serving contains 140 mg of sodium or less.
• Reduced or less sodium. The product contains at least 25 percent less sodium than the regular version.  *If the regular product starts out high in sodium, reducing it by 25 percent may make little difference. 
• Lite or light in sodium. The sodium content has been reduced by at least 50 percent from the regular version.  *If the regular product starts out high in sodium, reducing it by 50 percent may make little difference. 
• Unsalted or no salt added. No salt is added during processing of a food that normally contains salt. However, some foods with these labels may still be high in sodium.

Remember, check the Nutrition Facts label closely for the serving size — and consider how many servings you actually eat.