• Buy fresh, plain frozen, or canned "with no salt added" vegetables.
• Use fresh poultry, fish, and lean meat, rather than canned or processed types.
• Use herbs, spices, and salt-free seasoning blends in cooking and at the table.
• Cook rice, pasta, and hot cereals without salt. Cut back on instant or flavored rice, pasta, and cereal mixes, which usually have added salt.
• Choose "convenience" foods that are lower in sodium. Cut back on frozen dinners, pizza, packaged mixes, canned soups or broths, and salad dressings — these often have a lot of sodium.
• Rinse canned foods, such as tuna, to remove some sodium.
• When available, buy low- or reduced-sodium, or no-salt-added versions of foods.
• Choose ready-to-eat breakfast cereals that are lower in sodium.

Tips on Being a Smart Shopper

• Read the food label to find out more about what is in the foods you eat
• Buy fresh, plain frozen, or canned "with no salt added" vegetables
• Choose foods that say: sodium free, very low sodium, low sodium, reduced (or less) sodium, light in sodium, unsalted

Tips on How to Prepare Lower Salt Meals

• Add less salt at the table and in cooking. Reduce the amount a little each day until none is used. Try spices and herbs instead
• Cook with low-salt ingredients. Remove salt from recipes whenever possible. Rice, pasta, and hot cereals can be cooked with little or no salt
• Use fewer sauces, mixes, and "instant" products this includes flavored rices, pasta, and cereal, which usually have salt added
• Rinse salt from canned foods
• Limit smoked, cured, or processed beef, pork, or poultry

Read the Food Label

Food labels can help you choose foods lower in sodium, as well as calories, saturated fat, total fat, and cholesterol. The label tells you:

Number Of Servings
The serving size is cup. The package contains about 3 servings.

Amount Per Serving
Nutrient amounts are given for one serving. If you eat more or less than a serving, add or subtract amounts. For example, if you eat 1 cup of peas, you need to double the nutrient amounts on the label.

Percent Daily Value
Percent Daily Value helps you compare products and tells you if the food is high or low in sodium. Choose products with the lowest Percent Daily Value for sodium.

Nutrients
You'll find the milligrams of sodium in one serving.

What to Look For On Food Labels
Which of these two items is lower in sodium? To tell, check the Percent Daily Value. The answer is given below.



ANSWER: The frozen peas. The canned peas have three times more sodium than the frozen peas.

Quick Facts on Salt

• Most sodium is consumed in the form of sodium chloride which is table salt. Other forms of sodium are also found in food, so watch out for salt AND sodium.
• Try to have less than 2,400 milligrams of sodium a day — that's the same as 6 grams of salt a day, or about 1 teaspoon
• That includes ALL sodium and salt — what's in the product, and added in cooking and at the table
• Processed foods account for most of the sodium and salt consumed
• Check food labels — sodium is in some foods you might not expect, such as soy sauce and some antacids
• Kosher salt and sea salt are just that — salt. Don't forget to include them in adding up your sodium intake for the day
• Reducing salt in the diet can lower blood pressure

Flavor That Food

Make foods tasty without using salt. Try these flavorings, spices, and herbs:

For Meat, Poultry, and Fish —

• Beef: Bay leaf, marjoram, nutmeg, onion, pepper, sage, thyme
• Lamb: Curry powder, garlic, rosemary, mint
• Pork: Garlic, onion, sage, pepper, oregano
• Veal: Bay leaf, curry powder, ginger, marjoram, oregano
• Chicken: Ginger, marjoram, oregano, paprika, poultry seasoning, rosemary, sage, tarragon, thyme
• Fish: Curry powder, dill, dry mustard, lemon juice, marjoram, paprika, pepper

For Vegetables —

• Carrots: Cinnamon, cloves, marjoram, nutmeg, rosemary, sage
• Corn: Cumin, curry powder, onion, paprika, parsley
• Green Beans: Dill, curry powder, lemon juice, marjoram, oregano, tarragon, thyme
• Greens: Onion, Pepper
• Peas: Ginger, marjoram, onion, parsley, sage
• Potatoes: Dill, garlic, onion, paprika, parsley, sage
• Summer Squash: Cloves, curry powder, marjoram, nutmeg, rosemary, sage
• Winter Squash: Cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, onion
• Tomatoes: Basil, bay leaf, dill, marjoram, onion, oregano, parsley, pepper