1. Check Food Labels
Checking food labels for a product's sodium content might be the easiest way to find low-salt food options. For a product to be considered low in sodium, the "percentage daily value" should be 5 percent or less. This means that a single serving of any item must contain fewer than 140 mg of sodium to meet the established guideline. However, just because a product claims to be reduced in sodium doesn't necessarily make it low in salt. A statement of this sort simply implies that the product contains at least 25 percent less sodium than the original formulation. If the original product contains 870 mg of sodium, the 30-percent-reduced version still contains 609 mg, making even the reduced version a high-sodium item.
2. Understand Salt-Laden Terms
There are a few buzzwords that should set off a red light when trying to find low-salt food options. Anything that is described as smoked, cured, pickled, brined or marinated will generally have a high sodium content. Typically, large amounts of salt, as well as the preservatives sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, are used in these food preparation processes. A 2-oz. slice of smoked ham has almost 790 mg of sodium. That's just over 30 percent of your recommended daily allowance.
3. Forget Convenience Foods
The biggest offenders in our war against salt are the convenience foods we use, such as frozen meals, packaged dinners, jarred sauces, canned vegetables, canned soups and seasoning mixes. All of these make our lives a little bit easier, but a lot saltier. According to a study by UCLA's Center on Everyday Lives of Families, households that relied heavily on convenience foods saved an average of only 10 to 12 minutes over those that did not. So if there's such little time saved in using these types of products, why subject ourselves to such high levels of sodium? A single serving of a boxed "helper" contains an average of 660 to 1,070 mg of sodium. And if you figure that this serving is only 1 cup prepared, the average person generally eats two or more servings in one sitting. You do the math.
4. Avoid Hidden Salt Culprits
Salty foods aren't the only culprits that contain high amounts of sodium. Many people are surprised to find that sweeter foods such as cakes, cookies, muffins, puddings and cereals are not considered low in salt. Even a single teaspoon of baking soda contains 1,200 mg of sodium. Of course, this doesn't mean that there aren't low-sodium versions of these types of foods; it just means that some care should be employed when selecting them. The best method of avoiding foods high in salt is to check the food labels before buying any product, no matter what it is.
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