TIPS FOR Seasonings are a great way to add

DINING OUT flavor to foods without adding salt to

REDUCING
TIPS
KEY
them. Replace the salt shaker at the
SODIUM & SALT table with herb and spice shakers.

NUTRIENT
- Ask how foods are made. SEASONINGS
- Choose fresh or frozen
vegetables over canned products. Garlic Mrs. Dash
- Ask that your foods are made
- Avoid foods prepared in brine, Onion Spices
without added salt, MSG, or items
such as pickles and olives. Herbs Lemon juice
with salt added.
- Avoid smoked meats (ham, Vinegar Pepper
bologna, pastrami, & corned beef). - Move the salt shaker.
- Use herbs and spices to season
your foods instead of salt. - Limit adding mustard,
- Use package labels to compare the catsup, pickles, and
ITALIAN SEASONING
sodium content of similar sauces with
products. salt-containing 4 tablespoons dried parsley
- Choose ready-to-eat breakfast ingredients. 4 teaspoons minced onion
cereals that are lower in sodium.
- Cook rice, pasta, and hot cereals - Choose fruit or vegetables, instead
1
2
teaspoon oregano
teaspoons dried basil
SALT
without salt. of salty snack foods. 1 teaspoon ground thyme
- Cut back on instant or flavored 2 teaspoons celery seed
rice, pasta, & cereal mixes, which - Ask for sauce &
1 teaspoon garlic powder
have added salt. salad dressings
on the side and ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- Rinse canned foods, such as tuna,
to remove some sodium. use only half of it.
Combine these ingredients in a
- Rinse canned vegetables to lower blender until powdered. Store
- Taste food before adding salt.
salt content. in an airtight container. Use to
- Avoid canned soups or choose the - Watch for words that mean high add flavor to meat, fish,
lower sodium version. sodium content: poultry, soup, or vegetables.
Be patient. Salt is an acquired Pickled Cured
taste. Once you begin to Soy Broth 3,000 copies of this were printed by the SD
cut back on sodium, you’ll Monosodium glutamate (MSG) Dept of Health at a cost of $.18 per copy.
find you miss it less. Sodium Chloride
NUT-046 01/07
Sodium Bicarbonate
Sodium plays a vital role in the The American Heart Association Take a quiz to remind you to reduce
Special Health Claims: Look to
body. It can affect fluids and blood recommends 2,400 to 3,000 mg of salt in your diet.
the front of the label for any
pressure. Most people consume sodium per day.
special health claims about the 1. Do I salt food at the table?
more sodium than is needed which
product.
can result in high blood pressure. LABEL READING GUIDE 2 Do I try other added flavors
- Sodium free: less than
besides salt?
WHAT IS HIGH BLOOD 5 mg per serving
- Very low sodium: less than 3 Do I read the label for the
PRESSURE?
35 mg per serving sodium content in the food?
When too much
sodium is eaten, - Low sodium: 140 mg or less 4 Do I eat fresh
more water has to stay in the body - Reduced or less sodium: 25% or frozen fruits
to help dilute the sodium out into less sodium than the regular and vegetables rather than
the bloodstream. This lowers the version canned?
kidney’s ability to excrete the
sodium and water, causing your SERVING SIZE: Here’s where you
blood vessels to become
MY PERSONAL GOALS:
find out what equals a serving and
“waterlogged.” how many servings are in a box. Food substitutions I will try:
When this happens, more pressure
SODIUM: This is where you will find
is needed to pump blood through
out how many milligrams of sodium
the body. The blood vessels
are in the product. Try to look for
constrict (become smaller), which Herbs and spices I will use to
foods with less than 50% of the daily
increases blood pressure. season foods instead of salt:
value per serving.

DID YOU KNOW? PERCENT DAILY VALUE: Tells if

the nutrients in a certain food add a
• Americans eat about 25 lbs. of lot or a little to your total daily diet.
salt per year per person. This is I will try to reduce my daily intake
There is 65 mg of sodium in this
about 10,000-20,000 mg day. of high sodium foods
cereal with milk. This is 3% of your
• The human body requires only by ___________ servings:
total daily value, which means you
220 mg of sodium a day. have 97% left in the foods you eat
• One teaspoon of salt contains that day.
2,200 mg of sodium.
• Over 37 million Americans suffer
from high blood pressure.