Following and maintaining a low salt diet can be difficult with so many modern convenient high sodium foods around. But it's possible to cook, buy and even eat in restaurants without succumbing to the lure of high salt meals.
Dietary Salt and the Risk of Hypertension, Stroke and Cardiovascular Disease
High sodium can cause plenty of potential health problems, and new research is finding more and more reasons to cut back on dietary salt every day. The link between hypertension, high blood pressure, and salt has been known for a while, but recent research published in the British Journal of Medicine in November, 2009 found that a high sodium diet can lead to an increased risk of stroke and heart disease, too.
For some individuals, the news is even worse. Some people are especially sensitive to sodium, with cardiovascular systems more likely to respond poorly to high sodium in the diet, a condition called sodium sensitivity. According to a 1996 report by Japanese scientist Takashi Uzu and colleagues published in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension, when these individuals consume high amounts of salt, their blood pressure doesn't drop overnight as most people's does.
How to Reduce Overall Dietary Sodium and Create a Low Salt Diet Lifestyle
The easiest way to reduce dietary sodium is by removing as many processed foods from the diet as possible and replacing them with fresh, whole foods that are naturally low in sodium. At home, this can mean converting from prepackaged, boxed meals to using low salt recipes and cooking from scratch. In restaurants, this can involve a strategy of avoiding condiments and sauces while choosing restaurants that specialize in healthy foods or picking dishes that are made with fresh ingredients.
Low Sodium Foods and Cooking at Home
Choosing low salt products to serve at home really begins at the supermarket or grocery. Some of the things to avoid include deli meats, bacon, hot dogs and ham, since these are all made with high levels of sodium. Trickier to spot are meats that have been injected with salt solutions, such as poultry, but this can often be determined by asking someone in the meat department which meats have or haven't undergone treatment with salt. Any prepackaged or canned food should be labeled as low or reduced sodium, while herbs and salt substitutes can replace sodium as flavorings for meals.The DASH diet plan, promoted by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute, is one way to plan low salt meals for the entire family.
Low Sodium Restaurant Dining
In restaurants, sodium can be hidden in fresh-looking menu items, so it's always a good idea for diners to ask about the salt content of particular dishes. Chefs will usually be willing to oblige a request to reduce the salt, or omit it completely, from a dish.
Whether at home or in restaurants, choosing low sodium meals and food products can protect future health for years to come, helping individuals avoid high blood pressure, stroke and cardiovascular disease. Choosing the foods to include in a low salt diet can be fairly easy for those willing to ask questions and read the labels before purchasing prepared items that may be overloaded with sodium.
Bridget Coila - I'm a cell and molecular biologist, freelance writer and photographer currently living in Beijing, China. I'm fascinated by science, ...
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