Health Tips
Colorado / My Eating Habits / My Salt Intake / My Tips & Tools / Tools
I will reduce the amount of salt that I use on my food
Most of the sodium we consume in our diets is sodium chloride, which is table salt. Try to have less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day—that's the same as 6 grams of salt a day, or about 1 teaspoon. The American Heart Association recommends consuming less than 1500 mg of sodium each day if you have high blood pressure. The following tips can help you to meet these recommendations.
Processed foods account for most of the sodium and salt consumed. In fact, more than 75% of the sodium that the average American consumes comes from packaged and processed foods!
Tips on How to Prepare Lower Salt Meals
- Add less salt at the table and in cooking. Reduce the amount a little each day until none is used. Try spices and herbs instead. See chart below for ingredient substitutions.
- Cook with low-salt ingredients. Remove salt from recipes whenever possible. Rice, pasta, and hot cereals can be cooked with little or no salt.
- Check food labels — and choose low and no-salt options when they are available.
- Use fewer sauces, mixes, and "instant" products this includes flavored rices, pasta, and cereal, which usually have salt added
- Rinse salt from canned foods like beans and vegetables.
- Limit smoked, cured, or processed beef, pork, or poultry.
Ingredient Substitutions for Salt and Sodium:
| Instead Of | Use |
|---|---|
| Bouillon salt | Low sodium broth |
| Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) | Omit from recipe or low-sodium herb or spice |
| Meat tenderizer | Omit from recipe |
| Cooking wine | Table wine |
| Teriyaki sauce | Omit from recipe or low-sodium alternative |
| Ketchup | Tomato paste |
| Garlic salt | Fresh garlic/garlic powder |
| Onion salt | Fresh onion/onion powder |
| Celery salt | Fresh celery/celery powder |
| Bacon/Bacon bits | Omit from recipe |
| Barbeque sauce | Low sodium barbeque |
| Steak sauce | Low sodium steak sauce |
| Soy sauce | Low sodium soy sauce and reduce total amount |
In Place of Salt
Try filling your salt shaker with a low- or no-sodium salt, or replace it with a shaker full of herbs and spices or a squeeze of lemon.
Low-Sodium Salts (contain potassium chloride and sodium chloride)
- Morton Lite Salt, 50% less sodium than table salt
- Diamond Crystal Salt Sense, 33% less sodium
No-Sodium Salts (contain potassium chloride)
- AlsoSalt
- Morton Salt Substitute
- NoSalt
- Nu-Salt
Herb and Spice Blends
- Chef Paul Prudhomme’s Magic Salt-Free Seasoning
- Salt-free Spike
- Mrs. Dash
- Benson’s Gourmet salt-free seasonings
- Penzeys salt-free spice blends
Adapted from: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/salt-substitutes/