Medical nutrition therapy includes dietary modifications to prevent or manage specific health conditions, and your doctor may recommend a low-sodium therapeutic diet for blood pressure. Too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure, or hypertension, and increase your risk for heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. Along with your therapeutic diet, continue to follow the rest of your doctor's instructions.
1,500 mg Sodium Diet
Sodium is an electrolyte and it is an essential nutrient for maintaining water balance in your body, but too much can cause high blood pressure or prevent you from lowering your blood pressure. Your low-sodium therapeutic diet may have a limit of 1,500 mg sodium per day. This is the maximum amount of sodium that you should consume if you have already have high blood pressure, are over 51 years old, are African-American, or have diabetes, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Other Sodium Levels
The average American diet includes 3,400 mg sodium per day, and healthy adults should not have more than 2,300 mg sodium, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. If you have been eating an excessive amount of sodium, your low-sodium therapeutic diet may permit 2,000 or 2,300 mg sodium per day because these amounts may be effective enough to lower blood pressure, according to the Langone Medical Center.
Food Choices
A low-sodium therapeutic diet emphasizes fresh foods instead of processed foods, which tend to be higher in salt, according to the Langone Medical Center. Fruits, vegetables, grains cooked without salt, unsalted nuts, milk, yogurt, lean proteins, spices and oils are typically low in sodium. Limit your intake of salted snack foods, breads and cheeses. Fast foods and other prepared foods, such as deli meats and frozen entrees, may be high in sodium. When you buy canned foods, such as vegetables, juices, soups or beans, choose low-sodium varieties.
DASH Diet Example
An example of a low-sodium therapeutic diet is the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH, diet. The regular DASH diet has a limit of 2,300 mg sodium per day, and the low-sodium version includes 1500 mg sodium, as described in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. This nutrient-dense diet may lower your blood pressure, and the typical day on a 2,000-calorie DASH diet includes four to five servings each of fruits and vegetables, six to eight servings of grains, two to three servings of oils, two to three servings of reduced-fat dairy, and no more than six servings of meats.
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