How Do I Avoid Sodium?

Question: How Do I Avoid Sodium?

I've been told to cut back on both salt and sodium for health reasons. It's easy enough to stop adding salt to my food, but where does all the sodium come from? Can you help me?

Beverly - About.com User

Answer: You've been told to avoid salt because it contains sodium. Consuming too much sodium may contribute to high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, and it may lead to fluid retention and bloating. Decreasing the amount of sodium in your diet may help to keep your blood pressure at a healthy level.

One teaspoon of salt has about 2,300 milligrams sodium. Just one-quarter teaspoon has 580 milligrams and a dash of salt has around 150 milligrams.

While salt is a major source of sodium, many processed foods are high in sodium, too. Canned foods, frozen meals, cured meats and many other processed foods contain outrageous amounts of sodium. So to keep your intake down, you need to do more than simply put away your salt shaker. Locate the Nutrition Facts labels to determine how much sodium is in the foods you buy. Here's more help for reducing your salt intake.

How Much Is Too Much?

According to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010, these groups of people should be limiting their sodium intake to less than 1,500 milligrams (mg) per day:

• African Americans
• Diabetics
• People with high blood pressure
• People with kidney disease
• Everyone over the age of fifty

The rest of us should stay under 2,300 mg per day.

You'll find sodium in most butter or margarine, milk, bread and other staple foods. Look for these ingredients on the labels of all the processed and packaged foods that you buy:

• Monosodium glutamate
• Baking soda
• Baking powder
• Disodium phosphate
• Sodium alginate
• Sodium nitrate or nitrite

Your body needs some sodium so you don't want to eliminate all sodium from your diet (that would be almost impossible, anyway), but here are some ways to cut back:

• Read food labels and choose foods that are low in sodium.
• Choose fresh or frozen vegetables rather than canned.
• Avoid lunch meats and cured meats.
• Stay away from frozen convenience foods like frozen dinners, pizzas, and snack foods.
• Buy unsalted nuts and snacks.
• Eliminate salt from your recipes.
• If you choose canned vegetable or legumes, rinse them thoroughly with water.
• Try salt substitutes made with potassium.

Is Sea Salt Better Than Regular Salt?

Regular table salt comes from salt mines, is purified and often has iodine -- an additive that wiped out the iodine deficiency disorders that were more common in the early 20th century. Unrefined sea salt is made from ocean water and contain a minuscule amount of additional minerals that add flavor (and sometimes color) to the salt. Some people claim that unrefined sea salts are good for your health and should not be restricted from your diet, but there is no scientific evidence to back these claims. You can choose sea salt for the flavor, but don't expect any other health benefits.

Sodium Deficiency

Is it possible to get too little sodium? It's possible, but unlikely to have a sodium deficiency. It usually occurs if you drink a huge amount of water all at once -- it's called hyponatremia.

_Sources:

_{American Heart Association. "Sodium." Accessed January 13, 2011. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4708}

_{Gropper SS, Smith JL, Groff JL. "Advanced Nutrition and Human Metabolism." Fourth Edition. Belmont, CA. Wadsworth Pub Co. 2005.}

_{United States Department of Health and Human Services. "Dietary Guidelines for Americans - 2005." Accessed January 13, 2011. http://www.health.gov/DietaryGuidelines/dga2005/document/default.htm}