Did you know that children, more so than adults, are more likely to eat more salt than is recommended? While we need small amounts of salt for our bodies to work, most of us eat a lot more than we need. Eating too much salt can lead to high blood pressure, which is a risk factor for heart disease, stroke and chronic kidney disease. Salt is sodium chloride so, sodium is often used as an alternative word for ‘salt’ on food labels.
Try these easy tips to help lower your family’s salt intake.
Most of the salt that we eat comes from processed foods, so including more fresh foods like fruit and vegetables, is a great way to lower your salt intake. Aim for 2 serves of fruit and 5 serves of vegetables every day. You can use no-added-salt frozen or canned vegetables and legumes like peas, corn, kidney beans or chickpeas if you are in a hurry or fresh is unavailable or too expensive.
Processed meats such as ham, salami and bacon tend to be very high in sodium and have been linked to bowel and stomach cancer.
Replace these types of meat with chicken, tuna, mushrooms, eggplant, tomato, capsicum, baked beans or cheese. See our Healthy alternatives to ham for more ideas on eating less processed meats.
Limit pre-prepared meals, meal starter kits and simmer and pasta sauces as these products are high in sodium. Most tinned and dried soups will provide two-thirds of a child’s recommended sodium intake in one serve alone!
While these products can be really handy when you need dinner in a hurry, an excellent way to lower their sodium content is to use only half the jar and bulk up the recipe with added vegetables, or no-added-salt canned tomatoes or legumes like chickpeas or butter beans. Try cooking meals from scratch when you have time like this roast pumpkin and tomato pasta sauce or a vegie pasta soup. Make a double batch and keep leftovers in freezer for a later date.
Snack foods like packets of crisps, sweet and savoury biscuits, sweet muffins and single serve packs of dip, cheese, processed meat and crackers can contribute a lot of sodium, especially if eaten every day. Try these snacks instead:
For more inspiration check out our healthy swaps and snack ideas.
Even healthy foods like cheese, breakfast cereal and wholemeal bread can contain a lot of sodium. You don’t need to avoid these foods, read the label and look for lower-sodium versions.
Here’s how:
Find the Nutrition Information Panel on a product and look at the 100g column. Compare similar products (e.g. multigrain bread with another brand of multigrain bread) and choose the product with less sodium (salt).
You can also use the Health Star Rating (HSR) to compare similar packaged products. While the HSR looks at other nutrients in a product like protein, sugar and fibre, a lower sodium product will likely have more stars. The more stars, the healthier it is.
You can also download the Food Switch app – this handy app allows you to scan a product and it will suggest a healthier product to ‘switch’ to.
Your taste buds can be retrained within a few weeks to accept the taste of foods containing less sodium. To add flavour to meals, use garlic, onion, chilli, lemon juice, vinegar, pepper, herbs, curry paste and spices.
Start lowering your salt intake by eating more fresh fruit, veges and meat, using less processed products and choosing packaged foods carefully.
© Cancer Council NSW 2024 Head Office Address: 153 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011. Cancer Council NSW is registered with the Australian Taxation Office as an Income Tax Exempt Charity: Charitable Fundraising Authority No. 18521.
Some images on this site have been supplied by Cancer Council Western Australia's Crunch & Sip website
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