Health Tips

Colorado / My Eating Habits / My Salt Intake / My Tips & Tools / Tips

I enjoy eating a bowl of soup for lunch in the wintertime, yet I’m concerned about the sodium content

You have good reason to be concerned about the amount of salt in canned soup — in fact one cup of canned chicken noodle soup has approximately 1,100 mg of sodium — almost half of what you should consume in an entire day! Compare with one cup of low-sodium chicken noodle soup, which only contains 140 mg of sodium. For canned soup, choose the low-sodium option.

Choose foods that are high in potassium, as they counter the effects of sodium and may help lower blood pressure. Foods high in potassium include: bananas, cantaloupe, orange juice, sweet potatoes, greens, legumes, tomatoes, and low-fat milk and yogurt.

Salt is an easy and inexpensive food preserver, which is why packaged and processed foods tend to be high in sodium. A good rule of thumb — if a food item keeps well in the fridge for days or weeks, it is probably high in sodium!