Shaking the salt habit
Sodium is a mineral essential for good health.
What is Sodium?
Sodium is a mineral essential for good health. It is needed to regulate the amount of fluid in our bodies, as it is one of the factors that control blood volume. (Hence, its effect on blood pressure). It is also needed for proper muscle contractions and conduction of nerve impulses.
Salt is actually sodium chloride. Sodium makes up 40% of salt. So, in a teaspoon of salt (5g) there is 2g of sodium.
How Much Sodium is Enough?
Our bodies cannot make sodium so we need to get it from our food and drinks. The World Health Organization* recommends that daily salt intake should not exceed 6g (2.4g sodium) per day. This works out to be about 1 teaspoon of salt a day. Most of us eat 2-3 times that amount everyday! So if your doctor has asked you to reduce your salt intake, aim for a sodium intake of not more than 1/3 teaspoon per meal.
* WHO (1990). Diet, Nutrition and the Prevention of Chronic Diseases. WHO Tech Report Ser. 797, Geneva.
Where is the Sodium in Food? Sodium is widely distributed in the food we eat. It is found naturally in all food including fruits, vegetables, beans, meat, fish, even plain water (especially mineral water). Food may also contain added sodium from salt (sodium chloride), flavour enhancers such as MSG (monosodium glutamate). Sodium may also be found in food additives such as sodium nitrate, benzoate and bicarbonate.
As a general rule, canned and processed foods are higher in sodium compared with fresh or plain frozen foods. In fact, most of the sodium we eat comes from processed food. Sodium is added for taste or as a preservative. Sauces such as soya, tomato, chilli or oyster may also be high in sodium.
We may not always be able to tell whether a food contains added salt by merely tasting it. For example, sweet biscuits contain a fair amount of salt too!
Here are some examples of high sodium foods that you should limit in your diet.
High Sodium Food
