Fresh fruits and vegetables are a sure source of fiber with low sodium, but other sources of fiber may come with excessive salt. It’s important to include enough fiber in your diet, but it’s potentially dangerous to consume too much salt, so some easy-to-follow guidelines will help you make the best food choices.
Fiber
Dietary fiber is a complex carbohydrate that's only found in plant-based foods. Fiber isn't digested by the body, but some types of fiber are soluble, while others are insoluble. Soluble fiber helps prevent spikes in blood sugar and it reduces cholesterol. Insoluble fiber adds bulk to waste products, which prevents constipation. Most fiber-containing foods have both types, so fiber content is reported as one total number. Oat bran and fruits tend to have more soluble fiber, while whole grains have a higher percentage of insoluble fiber. The Institute of Medicine recommends that adult men eat 38 grams of fiber daily and that adult women eat 25 grams per day.
Sodium
Sodium regulates the amount water in your body, including blood volume and blood pressure, and it's essential for the electrical impulses that regulate muscle contraction. But eating too much salt contributes to high blood pressure and may increase your risk of osteoporosis. You shouldn’t have more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium daily.
Vegetables
All raw vegetables deliver fiber with very little sodium. One cup of tomatoes, green beans, sweet peppers, squash or potatoes has 2 to 3.5 grams of fiber with just 4 to 9 milligrams of sodium. These values represent 5 to 14 percent of the recommended daily amount of fiber with less than 1 percent of the daily intake of sodium. Canned vegetables have about the same amount of fiber, but you’ll gain extra salt. For example, one cup of canned green bean beans or peas has 376 milligrams of sodium.
Fruits
Raw fruits are also good sources of fiber with little sodium. One cup of sliced apples, bananas, oranges, apricots, grapefruits or strawberries has 3 to 4 grams of dietary fiber but no more than 2 milligrams of sodium. Canned fruit doesn’t have as much added sodium as canned vegetables, but the amount varies. Sodium in one cup of pears or peaches increases by 2 to 12 milligrams, depending on whether they’re packed in water, heavy or light syrup.
Nuts, Seeds and Beans
One ounce of walnuts, peanuts, almonds or sunflower seeds has 2 to 3.5 grams of dietary fiber. Kidney and navy beans have 13 to 19 grams of fiber in one cup. The problem with all of them is that the amount of sodium they contain depends on how they’re prepared. Raw nuts have virtually no salt, but if they’re roasted with salt, 1 ounce can have 200 milligrams or more of sodium. One cup of regularly processed canned beans can have 600 to more than 1,000 milligrams of salt.
Whole Grains
Whole grain products, including whole wheat, brown rice and oats, have about 2 to 4 grams of fiber per serving and they’re naturally low in sodium. However, check the labels because different amounts of salt are added during processing.
References
- Oregon State University: Fiber
- Colorado State University Extension: Dietary Fiber
- Colorado State University Extension: Sodium in the Diet
- USDA National Nutrient Database: Fiber – Total Dietary Content of Selected Foods Per Common Measure
- USDA National Nutrient Database: Sodium Content of Selected Foods Per Measure
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