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How to eat less salt
This dietary advice sheet gives some
general information to help you make the recommended changes to your
diet. If you need more detailed advice or if you are following a special
diet that makes it difficult to make these changes, please ask your
doctor to refer you to a registered dietitian.
Your Doctor, Dietitian or Health
Professional has recommended that you follow a reduced salt diet. By
eating less salt, it may be possible to reduce your blood pressure.
The recommended intake is 6g of salt each day. 6g
of salt is equal to one teaspoon of salt.
Salt in your diet comes from:
- salt used in cooking
- salt added at the table
- salt added to processed and convenience foods
Ways to reduce your salt intake:
-
Use very little salt in cooking.
-
Try not to add salt to food at the
table – this includes all types of salt including table salt, sea salt,
rock salt, celery salt and garlic salt.
-
Avoid salt substitutes such as
Bio-Salt and LoSalt and any products containing these.
-
Try alternative flavourings such as
garlic, herbs, lemon juice, pepper and spices to add extra flavour.
-
Cut down on processed and convenience
foods.
-
Choose meals and sandwiches with less
than 0.5g sodium per meal.
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Choose foods with less than 0.3g
sodium per serving.
-
Read and compare food labels and
choose lower salt alternatives.
Nutrition Labelling!!
Salt can also be called sodium chloride. Food labels may list sodium
or salt content or both.
To convert salt to sodium – divide by 2.5
e.g. A packet of crisps with 0.5g salt will contain 0.2g sodium
To convert sodium to salt – multiply by 2.5
e.g. A ready meal with 0.4g sodium per meal will contain 1g salt
The table below provides ideas to help you eat less salt.
How to eat less salt.
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Breads, Rice and Pasta |
Choose
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Have in Moderation
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Avoid
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|
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Bread, croissants, muffins, pitta bread, rolls
Dried noodles |
Bagels, crumpets and tortillas
Tinned spaghetti and ravioli
Fresh noodles
Frozen and microwavable rice
Dehydrated meals and snacks such as pot noodles,
supernoodles
Flavoured couscous and ready made polenta |
|
Breakfast Cereals |
Choose
|
Have in Moderation
|
Avoid
|
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Muesli, Porridge Oats, Raisin Wheats, Ready Brek,
Ricicles, Shredded Wheat, Sugar Puffs, Weetabix and Weetos |
Other breakfast cereals containing 0.3g sodium per
serving or less – Frosties, Fruit ’n’ Fibre, Golden Nuggets,
Shreddies, Sultana Bran |
Breakfast cereals over 0.3g sodium per serving – All
Bran, Cornflakes, Golden Grahams, Special K |
|
Dairy Products |
Choose
|
Have in Moderation
|
Avoid
|
|
Unsalted butter
Flora Low Salt margarine
Gold Unsalted
Cream, eggs, milk, yoghurts
Cottage cheese, Cream cheese, Goats cheese,
Mascarpone, Mozzarella |
Butter, margarine (incl. low fat)
Pro-Activ and Benecol spreads
Condensed and evaporated milk
Dessert topping
Cheddar - mild, medium or mature
Brie, Camembert, Cheshire,
Double Gloucester, Cambazola
Gouda, Gruyere, Parmesan, Red Leicester, Stilton |
Slightly salted butter
Dairylea, Danish Blue, Edam, Feta, processed cheese,
Roquefort, smoked cheese |
|
Fish |
Choose
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Have in Moderation
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Avoid
|
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Crayfish, conger eel, fresh and frozen oily fish,
fresh and frozen white fish, lobster, whelks |
Crab, sardines in tomato sauce, tinned mackerel and
pilchards, tuna in brine or spring water, white fish in batter or
breadcrumbs |
Anchovies, cockles, fish cakes, fish fingers, fish
paste and pate, fish roe, grilled bloaters and kippers, jellied eel,
oysters, pickled herrings, prawns, scampi, tinned salmon, tuna in
oil, winkles |
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Meat |
Choose
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Have in Moderation
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Avoid
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Fresh and frozen poultry and game
Fresh and frozen red meat
Heart, liver and sweetbread
|
Homemade single-crust meat or poultry pies
Kidney
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Beefburgers, black pudding and haggis
Corned beef, luncheon meat and other tinned meat
Bacon, ham, salt beef, smoked gammon and other smoked
and salted meats
Pate and meat pastes
Pork pies, Cornish pasties and scotch eggs
Sausages and sausage rolls
Steak and kidney pies. |
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Snacks |
Choose
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Have in Moderation
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Avoid
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Crisps under 0.5g sodium per 100g
Mixed unsalted nuts and raisins
Unsalted popcorn and nuts |
Biscuits and Crackers
Cakes and Pastries
Honey roasted nuts
Peanut butter |
Crisps over 0.5gsodium per 100g
Salted biscuits
Salted and dry roasted nuts
Salted popcorn |
|
Soups and Sauces |
Choose
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Have in Moderation
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Avoid
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Homemade sauces
Homemade soups
Apple sauce,
horseradish, mint jelly, salad cream, tomato puree,
salad cream |
Ready made sauces under 0.3g sodium per serving
Gravy powder
Reduced salt gravy granules
Brown sauce, hollandaise sauce, mayonnaise, mint
sauce, mustard, tomato ketchup, tomato sauce |
Dried mix sauces and all other sauces over 0.3g
sodium per serving
Ready made soups, cup-a-soups and tinned soups
Gravy granules
Tartare sauce |
|
Vegetables |
Choose
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Have in Moderation
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Avoid
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Fresh and frozen vegetables
Fresh potatoes
Vegetables tinned in unsalted water
Baked beans containing 0.3g sodium per 100g |
Pickled beetroot
Potato products under 0.3g sodium per 100g |
Olives, tomato juice, pickled gherkins, onions
Potatoes and vegetables tinned in salted water
Potato products over 0.3g sodium /100g
Baked beans over 0.3g sodium per 100g |
How to contact a
Dietitian
There are several
dietitians at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital that
specialise in renal medicine. They work in outpatient clinics, on the
wards and in the dialysis units at the hospital. They also look after
the care of patients who dialyse at home.
If you would like to
see a dietitian to discuss your diet in more detail there are several
ways you can contact us:
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Arrange an
appointment at the end of this evening.
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Phone our
department to speak with one of us.
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There is a
dietitian available every Tuesday morning in the General Medical
Outpatients East Department, working alongside the renal consultants.
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Leave a message
with any member of the renal team.
If you are under the
care of one of the Renal Consultants you do not need a doctor to refer
you to be able to see us.
Bridget Reasbeck,
Louise Burton & Elsie Louw.
Renal Dietitians
Department of Nutrition and Dietetics
Norfolk & Norwich NHS Trust
Colney Lane
Norwich
NR2 7UY
Tel: (01603) 287011
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