Salt encourages your body to hold onto excess fluid, which causes an added stress on the heart and greatly increases your risk of developing high blood pressure.
More than smoking, high cholesterol or obesity, high blood pressure puts you at greater risk of dying of a heart attack or stroke.
Recommended levels are less than 2300 mg a day for most people. This may seem like a lot, but note that a single teaspoon of table salt has 2,325 mg of sodium!
80% of the sodium we consume comes from packaged foods and restaurant food, so cooking your own fresh foods will make the biggest impact on salt reduction.
More than smoking, high cholesterol or obesity, high blood pressure puts you at greater risk of dying of a heart attack or stroke.
Recommended levels are less than 2300 mg a day for most people. This may seem like a lot, but note that a single teaspoon of table salt has 2,325 mg of sodium!
80% of the sodium we consume comes from packaged foods and restaurant food, so cooking your own fresh foods will make the biggest impact on salt reduction.
Here are more tips:
- Limit the number of meals you eat out.
- Use mostly fresh foods in your cooking. Frozen vegetables and fruit are also good, as long they are not packaged with salt or sauces.
- If you buy food in cans, always look for "No salt added" or "Low sodium" versions. Add plenty of fresh or frozen vegetables to soups or other canned food to lower the sodium concentration per serving.
- Track your sodium intake for a few days to see how close you are to the recommended levels (try MyFitnessPal.com). Even modest reductions in sodium results in a lower risk of heart attacks, strokes, heart disease & death.
- Experiment with different herbs & spices to flavor your food in place of salt. Stock up on spice blends that do not contain salt. Many curry, fajita seasoning and poultry seasoning blends do not contain salt.
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