Controlling your salt intake is the best way to lower blood pressure, according to the National Institutes of Heath. Salt is 60 percent chloride and 40 percent sodium -- it's the sodium in salt and foods that causes the problem. Sodium attracts water, increasing blood volume and blood pressure and forcing your heart to work harder to pump the extra blood through your body.
Sodium and High Blood Pressure
If you have high blood pressure, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends you limit sodium intake to 1,500 mg daily. Actually, the CDC recommends that the majority of adults, including anyone over 51 years of age, those with diabetes or kidney disease and all black people limit sodium intake to 1,500 mg daily. One teaspoon of salt contains about 2,300 mg of sodium, the recommended limit for the general public, according to the 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans. So 1,500 mg is just over 1/2 tsp. of table salt.
Where is the Sodium in Your Diet?
Sodium is naturally occurring in some foods -- about 12 percent of the sodium in the average American diet comes from fresh foods. And about 10 percent of your sodium intake comes from cooking at home or adding salt at the table. The vast majority of sodium in your diet comes from restaurants and processed foods. Salt is often used as a curing agent, bacteria-killer and preservative. Canned foods and cured meats -- especially those that contain sodium nitrate, like bacon, can contain large amounts of sodium. Baking soda, or sodium bicarbonate, adds sodium to baked goods. Don't use taste as an indicator of sodium levels -- many sweet-tasting foods, particularly baked goods, can be high in sodium.
Tips to Lower Your Sodium Intake
Choose fresh food instead of processed and cook at home rather than eating out to be able to control the amount of salt used. If fresh foods aren't available, look for frozen foods that have no added sodium. When cooking at home, use fresh herbs and spices to add flavor to your food. Remove the salt shaker from the table. Watch out for over-the-counter medications, such as Alka-Seltzer, that are high in sodium, and discuss the sodium content of prescription medications with your doctor or pharmacist.
Understanding Food Labels
Look for the sodium content listed on nutrition labels. Sodium content is listed per serving -- if you eat multiple servings, you'll need to multiply the amount of sodium by the number of servings consumed. Look for foods labeled "sodium free" which contain less than 5 mg of sodium per serving. "Very low sodium" foods contain less than 35 mg of sodium per serving, and "low sodium" foods contain 140 mg or less per serving. Watch out for "reduced-sodium" foods, which contain 25 percent less sodium than the regular version. If the regular product has 1,000 mg of sodium per serving, the reduced-sodium version can still have 750 mg of sodium, which is too much.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Most Americans Should Consume Less Sodium (1,500 mg/day or less); February 2011
- University of California San Francisco Medical Center; Guidelines for a Low Sodium Diet; February 2011
- Consumer Reports Health; To Understand Sodium Labels, Learn Salty Language; January 2009
