5 Healthy Ways You Can Reduce Your Salt Intake
1. Cook without added salt: You can use the prescribed amount of salt separately. You can add little or no salt at the table. Use spices and herbs to enhance the taste of your food. Lemon, tamarind, tomato, vinegar, ginger, garlic, and mint can add a unique flavour to your food.
2. Choose fresh foods: Frozen food items are often laden with added salts. Which is why you must choose fresh foods which not only have a better nutritional quotient but are also salt-free.
3. Avoid salty snacks: Forgo chips and namkeen and choose unsalted nuts to snack on. While you’re at it, make fresh soups at home instead of using instant mixes. Also avoid junk foods, bakery products, and processed foods.
4. Learn to read labels: Ingredient labels on packaged foods usually spell out how much sodium content a product has. Avoid any packed product that provides more than 30% of the daily allowance of sodium in one serving.
5. Other measures: You can select fat-free or low-fat milk, low-sodium, low-fat cheeses, as well as low-fat curds. When dining out, ask for your dish to be prepared without salt and/or Ajinomoto.
Eating potassium-rich foods can also help
Another important aspect is to balance your diet with potassium-rich fruits and vegetables. Do not switch to low sodium versions of salt available on the shelf as they can disrupt entire electrolyte balance of the body. Talk to a nutritionist to understand whether you need to switch to low-sodium salt.
