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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:
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Use very little salt in
cooking.
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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.
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Avoid salt substitutes
such as Bio-Salt and LoSalt and any products containing these.
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Try alternative
flavourings such as garlic, herbs, lemon juice, pepper and spices to
add extra flavour.
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Cut down on processed and
convenience foods.
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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.
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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
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Choose
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Have in Moderation
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Avoid
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Bread, croissants, muffins, pitta bread, rolls
Dried noodles
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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
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Breakfast Cereals
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Choose
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Have in Moderation
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Avoid
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Muesli, Porridge Oats, Raisin Wheats, Ready Brek, Ricicles,
Shredded Wheat, Sugar Puffs, Weetabix and Weetos
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Other breakfast cereals containing 0.3g sodium per serving or
less – Frosties, Fruit ’n’ Fibre, Golden Nuggets,
Shreddies, Sultana Bran
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Breakfast cereals over 0.3g sodium per serving – All
Bran, Cornflakes, Golden Grahams, Special K
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Dairy Products
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Choose
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Have in Moderation
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Avoid
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Unsalted butter
Flora Low Salt margarine
Gold Unsalted
Cream, eggs, milk, yoghurts
Cottage cheese, Cream cheese, Goats cheese,
Mascarpone, Mozzarella
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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
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Slightly salted butter
Dairylea, Danish Blue, Edam, Feta, processed cheese,
Roquefort, smoked cheese
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Fish
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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
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Crab, sardines in tomato sauce, tinned mackerel and
pilchards, tuna in brine or spring water, white fish in batter or
breadcrumbs
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Biscuits and Crackers
Cakes and Pastries
Honey roasted nuts
Peanut butter
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Crisps over 0.5gsodium per 100g
Salted biscuits
Salted and dry roasted nuts
Salted popcorn
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Soups and Sauces
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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
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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
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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
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Vegetables
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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
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Pickled beetroot
Potato products under 0.3g sodium per 100g
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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
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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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