The American Heart Association and other organizations advise people to limit their salt intake to the equivalent of no more than 3 teaspoons [6 grams] each day. Additionally, health experts advise people with certain health conditions, such as Meinier's Disease to further limit their salt intake to levels even lower, sometimes as low as 1 teaspoon [2 grams] per day.

Foods to Avoid:

• Canned soups, juices, and vegetables
• Cereals: cornflakes, bran flakes
• Cheese
• Cottage cheese
• Hydrolyzed vegetable protein
• Ketchup
• Lite soy sauce
• Microwave popcorn
• Miso
• Olives
• Pickles
• Processed meats: bologna, cured ham, frankfurters, etc.
• Salad dressings (prepared) Salted butter and margarine
• Salted nuts
• Seaweeds
• Smoked or cured fish
• Snack foods: potato chips, pretzels, tortilla chips
• Soy sauce
• Table salt
• Worcestershire sauce

Best bets

• Fresh organic foods such fruits, meats, vegetables Oats
• Packaged or prepared foods: look for labels stating low-sodium, salt-free, or unslated. The Boise Co-op carries a number of different low salt options throughout the grocery aisles.
• Pasta
• Rice
• Seasonings and marinades such as dried herbs, garlic, lemon juice, and/or vinegar (in place of salt)

American Heart Association
1615 Stemmons Freeway
Dallas, TX 752078806

The No Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook: Hundreds of Favorite Recipes Created to Combat Congestive Heart Failure and Dangerous Hypertension by Donald A. Gazzaniga, New York: St. Martin's Press, 2001

Get the Salt Out: 501 Simple Ways to Cut the Salt Out of Any Diet by Ann Louise Gittleman, New York: Crown Trade Paperbacks, 1996.

Cooking Without a Grain of Salt by Elma W. Bagg, New York: Bantam Books, 1998.

USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (on-line search for sodium content)

This article's information was referenced from Healthnotes, Inc. (HNI), the premier provider of credible, easy-to-use health and lifestyle information.