Statistics show that cutting salt intake by about ½ tsp. per
day, may prevent 22% of stroke deaths and 16% of fatal heart attacks.
You may be thinking I don’t salt my food and I don’t eat any
processed food, so I don’t have to worry about my sodium intake. Right?
Wrong! If you are not salting your food or eating salty soup
or canned vegetables then where is all this sodium coming from? Consider this,
2 TB of Hannaford brand ketchup has 160 mg. of sodium; 2 TBs of Hannaford Light
Caesar dressing has 320 mg. of sodium; ½ cup of Rao’s spaghetti sauce has 310
mg. of sodium, and these are only a few of the many “salty foods” that are in
refrigerators right now.
What are the alternatives to salting your food or cooking
with salt? Here are a few tips:
·
Always read your labels, the lower the sodium
the better
·
A simple rule of thumb is that the milligrams of
sodium should not exceed the calories. For example, a 300-calorie veggie burger
should have no more than 300 mg. of sodium
·
Buy no-salt added beans, diced tomatoes, chicken
and vegetable broth
·
Use sodium free seasonings like Mrs. Dash
·
Make sure the frozen veggies you purchase have
little or no salt, i.e., Hannaford frozen broccoli and corn
·
Avoid frozen veggies with creamy, salty sauces
·
If you want to salt foods like scrambled eggs or
corn on the cob, use Morton’s light salt which has ½ the sodium
·
Look at your recipes; maybe there is added salt
that you can skip.
Here are two web sites I recommend:
www.hackingsalt.com, and https://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/18018/nutrient-focused-diets/low-sodium/
Do all you can to reduce your sodium intake and your
arteries will thank you!
