Low-Salt Diet

Your doctor just told you that you have high blood pressure, and you’re thinking – now what? One of the ways to manage high blood pressure is by following a low-salt (also called low-sodium) diet. This guide was created to help you make healthy food choices to help control your blood pressure.

How do I know what foods are high in salt?

Salt isn’t only found in the salt shaker. It occurs naturally in some foods and is added to many processed foods, so it is important to look for the sodium (salt) content on the Nutrition Facts Label.

Use these tips to help guide your food choices:

Aim to have less than 5% of your daily value for sodium per serving
Limit your sodium to 2300 milligrams (mg) or less per day
Look for foods that advertise that they are “low-sodium”, “reduced-sodium”, “sodium-free”, or “no salt added”

What can I do to lower the amount of salt I eat?

Here are some tips to help you lower the amount of salt you eat:

Choose low-salt or reduced-salt condiments. Condiments are the extra sauces that make food tasty, such as mustard, ketchup, BBQ sauce, soy sauce, and teriyaki sauce. Use very small amounts of these.
Avoid cured and high-salt meats such as bacon, sausage, bologna, pepperoni and ham.
Limit the amount of prepackaged and processed foods that you eat, such as frozen meals, macaroni and cheese, pizza rolls, and chicken nuggets.
Stay away from pickled foods and those packaged in brine (salt water) such as olives and pickles.
Choose fresh or frozen vegetables instead of canned. If you like canned vegetables, pick low-salt or no-salt veggies options, or rinse them off before eating.
Limit snack foods that are high in salt. Look for “reduced-salt” or “low-salt” chips, popcorn, pretzels, and crackers. Try unsalted nuts and peanuts.
Leave the salt shaker in the cabinet. Try not to salt your food, or at least cut down on the amount of extra salt you use. Use herbs and spices, or try fresh lemon or lime juice to flavor your food.
Stay away from canned soup. Canned soups are super high in sodium! Many soups and broths contain a whopping 600-950 mg of sodium per serving (or more!). Read the Nutrition Facts Label and look for “reduced-sodium” or “low-sodium” varieties, which usually contain half the amount of sodium (200-400 mg per serving).

Example: Compare regular soup to "reduced-sodium" soup

Other than the low-salt diet, is there anything else I should limit?

Eating a healthy diet that is low in salt and staying physically active can help your blood pressure. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet has also been shown to lower blood pressure. This diet is low in saturated fat, total fat, and cholesterol, and it places special importance on fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy, whole grains, and lean proteins. It is lower in salt, sweets, and red meat than the typical American diet.

The DASH diet is individually designed to meet your specific energy needs, but overall, the diet calls for the following each day:

<2300 mg of sodium
3 servings of low-fat dairy such as yogurt, string cheese, or milk
8-10 servings of fruits and vegetables
3 or more servings of whole grains, such as whole wheat bread or brown rice
Lean meats, poultry, or fish
Nuts, seeds, or legumes, such as cashews, sunflower seeds, or peanuts
Limit sweets and added sugars
Exercise each day

For more information about the DASH diet, click this link.

Can I still eat fast food?

Once in a while it’s okay to eat fast food, but remember that it tends to be high in salt.

Here are some guidelines when ordering at fast food restaurants:

Choose salads
Go for foods that are grilled or broiled rather than fried
Limit high-salt add-ons such as ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce, and pickles

Here are some lower-sodium options when eating at your favorite fast food restaurants:

Restaurant	Lower Sodium Options
McDonald's	4 or 6 piece Chicken McNuggets® Hamburger Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait®

Restaurant	Lower Sodium Options
Burger King	Whopper Jr.® without mayo Hamburger 4 or 5 piece Chicken Tenders® with Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce Sour Cream & Chive Baked Potato

Restaurant	Lower Sodium Options
Wendy's	Jr. Hamburger® 4 or 5 piece Chicken Nuggets® with Sweet and Sour Nugget Sauce

Written by the CYWH and YMH Staff at Children's Hospital Boston

Updated: 10/21/2009

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