How to Eat Less Salt

Eating too much salt can lead to serious health problems. A high sodium diet is associated with high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Here are some simple steps you can take to eliminate the high amount of salt found in your diet.

Instructions

• 1

  Read food nutrition labels. The simplest way to eat less salt is to begin looking at the amount of salt found in the foods that you eat. If a food has a high percentage of sodium listed in the percent daily value column, avoid it.

• 2

  Look at the food claims. If a food claims to be sodium free, unsalted or reduced sodium, it is better to eat than the original recipe.

• 3

  Keep track of the amount of sodium that you consume. You should not eat more than 2400 milligrams of salt on a daily basis.

• 4

  Consider your food choices. Skinless meats, skim milk, fruits and fresh vegetables are all low in sodium. Foods like canned vegetables, canned soups, bacon and chips are very salty.

• 5

  Prepare your food without salt. When you cook, use spices and herbs to flavor your food instead of salt.

• 6

  Remove the salt shaker from your table. If you only have pepper available for seasoning, you will avoid adding additional salt to your food.