If you scan the nutrition labels on foods in your kitchen cupboard, you'll quickly see that sodium is everywhere – and not only in the usual culprits like soup, frozen dinners, canned vegetables and cold cuts. Sodium lurks in foods you wouldn't think to check including hot chocolate mixes, instant oatmeal, frozen waffles, bread, and yes, breakfast cereals.
It's even added to toddler foods – one jar (213 g) of Heinz's Toddler Chicken Cacciatore has 470 milligrams of sodium – half the daily sodium requirement for a one-year old.
Consuming sodium in excess of daily requirements – as most Canadians do – increases the risk of high blood pressure, stroke, osteoporosis, kidney stones and possibly even obesity.
Healthy adults need 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day, and the upper daily sodium limit is 2,300 milligrams.
In our world of processed, packaged foods, reducing your sodium intake is a challenging task. But just as our taste buds get used to high levels of sodium, they can adjust to eating less salt within a few weeks. The following tips will help you reduce sodium from your family's meals and snacks.
Read nutrition labels
Sodium levels vary widely across different brands of similar products. Sodium is listed in milligrams per one serving of food. Be sure to adjust the amount of sodium you're getting if you consume more than the serving size indicated.
Sodium is also listed as a percentage of a Daily Value. However, the DV for sodium is based on 2,400 milligrams, an outdated value that exceeds the needs of all Canadians.
Use the Daily Value to get a quick overview of whether there's a little or a lot of sodium in one serving of a food. A food that has 5 per cent or less of DV is considered low in sodium. A food that has 15 per cent or greater of DV would be high in sodium.
Balance your meals
It's not possible to choose all foods with a low per cent DV for sodium. Instead try to balance your food choices over the course of the day. For instance, if you're going to have Lean Cuisine's Chicken Club Panini for lunch (36 per cent of the DV for sodium) you'd be wise to pass on other high sodium foods for the rest of the day.
Dine out less often
Thanks to salty ingredients and hefty portion sizes, restaurant meals are often overloaded with sodium. Consider these nutrition facts: Boston Pizza's Cajun Rice Bowl, 2,050 milligrams of sodium; Kelsey's Chicken Quesadilla, 2,480 milligrams; Milestone's Grilled Chicken Salad (no dressing), 1,110 milligrams. Even the Old Spaghetti Factory's meatless lasagna clocks in at 1,683 milligrams – more than a day's worth of sodium.
If you eat meals frequently in food courts or chain restaurants, visit the company's website to review the nutrition facts of menu items.
Order wisely
When you do eat out, be aware of terms that indicate higher sodium: pickled, marinated, smoked, barbequed, teriyaki, soy sauce, broth, miso, gravy, bacon and, of course, salted. Order dressings, gravies and condiments on the side and use only a little.
Request that your meal be prepared without added salt, MSG or sodium-containing ingredients such as soy sauce and broths.
Make it from scratch
Make your own pasta sauces, chilis, soups and salad dressings. Simmer dried beans instead of buying them canned. Make these staples in big batches and freeze for later use. Not only are fresh fruit and vegetables naturally low in sodium or sodium free, they are also an excellent source of potassium, a mineral that helps keep blood pressure in check.
Adjust recipes
Remove or reduce the salt called for in recipes whenever possible. In most casseroles, stews and main dishes you can omit the added salt. In baked goods it's usually safe to reduce salt by one-half without affecting quality and taste.
Start the day off right
