Copyright © Clinical Reference Systems 1998
Adult Health Advisor
Women's Health Advisor
Salt (sodium chloride, or NaCl), along with potassium, is very important in helping your body maintain a proper fluid balance. Salt allows your body to take in fresh fluids, eliminate fluid waste through your urine, and still stay in fluid balance. Fluid balance is important for many body functions, including maintaining blood pressure, avoiding dehydration, and keeping the kidneys healthy.
Too much salt, however, can cause health problems. It can cause you to retain water, resulting in uncomfortable swelling of the hands, feet, and sometimes abdomen.
A serious problem related to too much salt is high blood pressure. High blood pressure increases your risk for heart disease and strokes. Approximately one third of people with high blood pressure in the United States are especially salt sensitive. This means that if they eat too much salt, it will cause or worsen high blood pressure.
The National Academy of Sciences, Food, and Nutrition Board recommends a daily sodium intake of ~2000 (mg) for healthy adults. However, the average American diet contains 3000 to 7000 mg of sodium per day.
You can take several steps to decrease the salt in your diet:
 | Stop adding salt to food at the table. Sometimes you can use other spices or salt substitutes that do not contain sodium. |
| Use little or no salt during food preparation and cooking. Use other spices instead of salt. |
| Read the labels on all canned, boxed, or frozen foods to see how much salt they contain. Many soups, frozen dinners, and other convenience foods contain high levels of sodium. |
| Check the sodium content in snack foods, especially the ones that taste salty but even those that aren't obviously salty. |
| Don't use of a lot of sauces and condiments on foods. |
Examples of sodium content in common foods:
Food Sodium Content ----------------------------------------- apple 1+1/2 mg banana 1 mg broccoli, 2/3 cup 10 mg catsup, 1 T 200 mg carrots, two 50 mg cheddar cheese, 1/4 lb 700 mg chicken, broiled, 1/4 lb 70 mg chicken, Burger King Broiler 480 mg dill pickle, 1 medium 900 mg egg, two 270 mg hamburger, Burger King 570 mg hamburger, Burger King Whopper 870 mg margarine, 1 T 120 mg milk, 2%, 8 oz 120 mg mustard, 1 tsp 65 mg olives, green, 10 940 mg salt, 1 tsp 1938 mg Worcestershire sauce, 1 T 206 mg
If you are on medication or have any medical conditions, be sure to check with your health care provider before changing your diet.
