Sodium is a component of salt. Salt is a common ingredient in lots of food. Sodium, however, can bring a variety of adverse effects towards your health if you don’t reduce your salt intake.

Watching your intake is essential as having too much can prove very detrimental to your health.

Sodium can lead to unwanted spikes in blood pressure and can lead to heart disease, cardiovascular disease and problems to your kidneys.

Once people develop a liking in the taste of salt, it can be tough to reduce it in their diet. This poses a risk for children who don’t understand how much or why they need to reduce their salt intake.

It is recommended to speak with your medical practitioner in regards to how sodium is affecting your health and the necessary steps to take if sodium is becoming a problem in your life. Here are some useful tips to help you reduce your sodium intake.

To learn more about how salt and sodium can affect your health read our blog on the subject here

Stick To Fresh Foods

By sticking to fresh food, you can regulate how much salt or if any, you decide to add. Try to avoid eating packaged or pre-marinated foods.

Cooking and consuming fresh meats such as red meat, chicken and eggs allows you to control how much salt you want to add. This way you are in control of your sodium intake when you consume these foods.

Eat Fruit and Vegetables

Fresh fruit and vegetables are also great foods to have if you want to reduce sodium intake. As a natural source of nutrient and vitamins, fruit and vegetables can help counter high blood pressure.

It is essential to take time to read the label if you decide to buy any frozen, canned or prepackaged fruits and veggies. If the item is ‘freshly frozen’, it’s a safe bet that there is no added sodium.

Try to stay away from fruit and veggies that may contain additives or seasonings as chances are; they may contain added sodium.

Compare Brands

When shopping for groceries, compare brands of the same food until you find the one that contains the least amount of sodium.

Some products are tailored towards low sodium diets. However, it’s worth taking extra precaution by comparing the nutritional contents of all the different brands.

Research Restaurants and Recipes

Before deciding to eat out at a restaurant or preparing a meal at home, take the time to study the best dishes to have that are low in sodium.

You aren’t the only person who wants to cut down on their sodium intake. So finding foods and recipes that are low in sodium online or merely asking the waitress at restaurants, can help you find meals that are tasty and suitable for you.

If you’re having a meal at a restaurant, you can request to have less or no salt added to your dishes.

Cycle Your Salt by Cutting it Out

Being naturally drawn and accustomed to the taste of salty foods is entirely normal. Particularly for children, lots of foods that children enjoy do contain salt. We have become accustomed to the taste and rely on it to add flavour to our meals.

According to studies, it takes 6-8 weeks to unlearn the taste of salt. This means we need to significantly reduce or cut it out from our diets for the duration of 6-8 weeks.

If you can learn to reduce salt diligently, by the time you do consume salt after this cycle period, you may not even need to add it to your dishes as you’re no longer used to having it.  

If you feel that your sodium intake may be a concern in your health, the above tips can help your approach to improve your health and diet.

However, it’s always best to speak with your medical practitioner and seek his/her advice.

Especially if you suffer from high blood pressure or diseases related to sodium intake, seeking the help of your medical practitioner is highly recommended.

Head over to the Okadoc app to immediately book an appointment with your health practitioner.