20% off £35
Are you on a low sodium diet and need to reduce your sodium levels?
Reducing your sodium intake involves keeping a close eye on all those high sodium foods (of which there are many) that are out there and sticking to eating as many low sodium foods as possible.
While it may sound simple, it can be challenging if you aren’t clear on which food contains the most sodium and which food doesn’t contain so much of it.
This article is designed to help you get to grips with high sodium foods versus low sodium food.
We also explore what sodium is, why it’s in food, the impact it can have on our health and how much we ideally need of it every day.
Sodium is a mineral that happens to be present in a fair few foods.
It is important for our health – our bodies need it to help our muscles and nerves work properly.
Sodium is also responsible for making sure our body fluids are balanced too.1
It’s not uncommon for people to wonder if the salt they sprinkle on their chips or meals as they’re cooking is the same as sodium.
The answer? Most table salt is made from sodium chloride, which means salt that’s used to prepare food and give it a bit of extra flavour does contain sodium however, it’s not exactly the same thing as salt.
Table salt is made up of a combination of sodium and chloride – around 40% sodium and 60% chloride. Here’s some more guidance on the sodium-to-chloride ratio:
While sodium may be a mineral and is something we all need for our muscles, nerves and fluid levels, too much of it can actually be bad for our health.
Eating sodium-rich foods on a regular basis can lead to excess water retention.
This can then lead to our organs having to work much harder, which then puts us at a higher risk of getting high blood pressure.
And high blood pressure can have a detrimental effect on our heart and kidneys.
Something as simple as keeping tabs on your daily sodium intake is incredibly important because high blood pressure doesn’t tend to have any symptoms.
Eating sodium in moderation can therefore help reduce the risk of ever developing it.
Handpicked content: What is heart disease?
We’ve stressed the importance of monitoring your sodium levels, but how much is too much?
Well, according to the NHS, adults should eat no more than 6g of salt a day (2.4g sodium), which is the equivalent of a teaspoon’s worth.
Meanwhile, children’s salt/sodium intake depends on how young/old they are.
For children aged:
As for babies, their salt intake should be minimal because their kidneys aren’t fully developed to process it. Babies under the age of 1 should have less than 1g of salt a day.3
It’ll say so on the nutritional label. In fact, by law, all pre-packed food in the UK must state how much salt it contains.4
Most products will clearly state how much salt they contain on the front, with salt content usually being shown as a percentage of your Recommended Daily Allowance.
Colour coding is also used to indicate how high or low food is in salt/sodium:
Ideally, you should aim to eat ‘red’ food every once in a while and only in small amounts.
Sodium foods contain sodium because: a) it’s naturally present and b) it’s been added during the manufacturing process.
There’s also the fact that we can add our own sodium, in the form of salt or baking powder, to our meals too.5
Celery, beets and milk all contain natural sources of sodium, which accounts for around 15% of the sodium that’s in our diet.
Meanwhile, packaged and processed food, such as tinned soup, lunch meats and frozen dinners tend to contain sodium that’s been added while they’re being made.
Overall, it’s believed that more than 70% of the sodium we consume comes from processed, pre-packaged and restaurant food.
And being able to keep tabs on sodium levels is far more difficult when the sodium’s already been added; and not by yourself because there’s no definitive way of knowing how much has been used.
The remaining sodium intake comes from the sodium we actually add to our meals ourselves.
Interestingly, if you never reach for the salt shaker, and you’re consuming natural sodium-rich food, as well as pre-packaged, processed and restaurant food, you may already be consuming too much sodium….
So we’ve mentioned that pre-packaged, processed and restaurant food tends to be high in sodium, and that celery, beets and milk naturally contain sodium.
But when you’re doing your weekly grocery shop, what are the high sodium foods to swerve and the low sodium foods to reach out for?
We’ve listed some high sodium culprits below.
More than 40% of the sodium we eat every day comes from the 10 high sodium foods above.
To put this further into perspective, a turkey, lettuce, mustard and cheese sandwich made from two slices of bread contains 1,522mg of sodium.
There’s:
If your sodium consumption is already high or you don’t want it to become high, there are lots of low sodium alternative foods you can eat instead.
Check those labels too, low sodium food will clearly be labelled as being ‘low sodium’ or containing ‘no added salt.’
You can also look out for the colour coding, which is also incredibly useful too.8
Tip – thoroughly rinse your tinned fruit and vegetables; it will help wash the sodium away.
Look for products that contain 5% Daily Value or less sodium.
Chose fresh or frozen products over-processed food.
Use products that contain minimal sodium or no sodium at all.
Choose fresh seasonings over ready-made ones.
Ready to lower your sodium levels? As well as keeping an eye on those food labels, you can also:12 13 14
Eat a variety of fruit and vegetables: if frozen, look for ones without added sauces or sodium. If tinned, select low-sodium or no-salt-added items.
Limit your intake of highly processed foods by cooking from scratch.
Choose lower-sodium options for protein foods, such as fresh or frozen lean cuts of meat, chicken, seafood, eggs or dried beans.
Don’t use any added salt: use spices, fresh herbs, lemon juice, lime juice and vinegar instead. Use sodium-free seasoning blends. Buy ketchup, mustard and other condiments that are salt-free or low in sodium.
Ask for your meal to be prepared without table salt and for sauces and salad dressings to be served on the side.
That way, you can eat less of them, rather than all of them because they are all over your meal.
And, of course, when you’re looking at the menu, choose lower sodium options.
Sodium is everywhere, but that doesn’t mean it has to be in every single thing that you eat.
Not when you know what to look out for and the food products that tend to contain more sodium than others.
As a general rule of thumb, always check the nutritional levels, keep tabs on your daily intake and eat fresh rather than processed, pre-packaged food, which tends to contain higher levels of sodium.
What’s more, it can be difficult to know just how much sodium it contains too.
Eating a healthy, balanced diet will help you reduce your sodium intake.
So to can cooking more of your meals from scratch and resisting the urge to sprinkle them with salt while you’re cooking or when you’re just about to tuck into them!
Lowering your sodium levels is an important lifestyle change, regardless of whether you’re already experiencing the consequences of eating high sodium food or want to reduce your levels now to help minimise the risk of developing any of the associated health risks in the future.
We hope you’ve found this article useful and that you now have a clearer understanding of what sodium is, how it winds up in our food and how we can all consume less of it, simply by making a few straightforward changes to our eating habits here and there.
In addition to causing water retention and potentially increasing our blood pressure, eating high sodium foods can lead to an increased risk of:
Summary:
You’ll see, because we included them in the list above, that eggs do contain sodium – generally speaking, a large, hard-boiled egg contains around 62mg of sodium.
When you compare this to other food – a large, cooked egg contains as much sodium as half a cooked chicken breast, 3oz of broiled ground beef, 4 wheat crackers, 3oz of cooked halibut and 1 cup of cooked broccoli.
Overall, fruit and veg that isn’t fresh tends to contain more sodium. High sodium fruit and veg culprits include:
Last updated: 17 September 2021