Nutritionists around the world recommend that people 14 years and older consume no more than 2300 mg of sodium a day. At first glance, doable recommendation, but do you know what 2300 mg of salt? In fact, it’s only a teaspoon, writes likar.info.
The American heart Association recommends ideally be limited to 1,500 mg of sodium a day, especially if you have high blood pressure. But, unfortunately, most people consume more than 3,400 mg of salt per day.
Just hide the salt shaker is not the solution
Sodium is found in many foods that we don’t even refer to salt. People think that if you stop to overdo dishes, you can reduce salt consumption, but 75% of the total sodium intake comes from processed and prepared foods we buy in supermarkets.
The first step to reducing salt intake – find out, how many actually salt in your diet. For this you need to read the labels of all packaged or processed foods you buy. But keep in mind that the value of the “daily norm” on most food labels based on daily limit of 2,400 mg of sodium, which is more than the recommendations of nutritionists. Therefore, it is better to focus on the actual content of salt in the product. And don’t forget some “unsalted” foods actually contain sodium, even cereal and bread.
Add to that the amount of salt you use in cooking. For reference, 1/4 tsp of salt translates to 575 mg of sodium. Add it all up and you will find out how much sodium you eat daily. If you continually exceed the rate of 2,300 mg, there are ways to change that.
Reduce salt intake gradually. New York-based nutritionist Jessica Cording says that the taste is the first reason why her clients work, reduce the consumption of sodium. Therefore, it is recommended to do it gradually. Also a good idea to start adding in new food flavor enhancers, such as, Bay leaves, oregano, cumin, lemon or lime juice, onion and garlic.
Install limit of sodium. To eat something salty – well, if you stick to a set limit. That’s why Cording recommends the creation of a restriction – it will help to properly distribute the daily norm and sometimes can afford anything harmful, if the diet remained small gap. For example, if you know that the cereal that you eat in the morning, a lot of sodium, find her a more healthy alternative because the product salt is still almost non-existent.
Reduce the consumption of restaurant food. Most of the dishes in the restaurant cooked with lots of salt (if not listed on the menu that salt was not used in the preparation). It can be a real problem if you try to control the consumption of the substance. If you can, try to limit visits to restaurants and not order the delivery of food at home. If it is for some reason impossible, then order steamed vegetables and ask that sauces are always put separately.
Ask to bring the sauces and condiments separately. Yes, it may seem annoying habit, but condiments are usually full of salt. If you order food in restaurants, they, as a rule, immediately add the seasoning to the dish. Cording recommends ask to bring the sauces and condiments separately so you can control your daily intake.
Discard the ketchup in favor of mustard. In the ketchup, barbecue sauce, soy sauce and salad dressings are usually the most sodium. This does not mean that you completely have to abandon the sauces, because there are a lot of salted or even unsalted variants. In addition, there are ready-made sauces, which contain much less salt, for example, mustard, various vegetable oils and citrus juices. The amount of sodium can vary greatly among different brands so check the label before you buy.
Think about what you can replace pickles. Many of us love pickles because of their unusual taste. What does this taste like? Salt. Try replacing the pickle onion, cucumber and sweet pepper. They will add to the dish flavor and crunch without the extra salt.
Buy unsalted butter. Conventional oil can be quite a large amount of sodium, and if you use it for cooking, then add extra salt, which were not even aware. Buy unsalted butter and forget about this problem.
Train yourself to read labels. Sodium may be where you least expect (even in ice cream). Why nutritionists say it is important to read the labels on all products you buy, at least until then, until you find the products with low salt content.
Always buy unsalted nuts. Salted mixture of nuts, perhaps, tastier than usual, but contain a lot of sodium. Even if you do add a bit of salt and seasoning at his discretion, most likely, you will still reduce your salt intake.
Refrain from deli meats. In processed meats such as cold cuts, added a large amount of sodium to preserve their flavor and increase shelf life. Try instead to buy fresh poultry, fish, pork and lean meat. If you are a big fan of meats, cook the meat in advance, and then slice it to make sandwiches and take with you.
Follow the amount of salt in bread. Bread from the supermarket can contain more than 100 mg of sodium in one slice. That’s why you should always read the labels and choose options with low salt content. Even better start buying bread at the local bakery, as there are usually not use so much salt to increase the shelf life of bread. Find out from the seller or the Baker, how much salt they put.
