These days, it’s easier than ever to keep track of how much salt and sodium you eat. Information on salt and sodium is available on new food labels (see next page). Tips on how to reduce your salt and sodium intake are listed above. The sodium content of some foods is listed below. This list also highlights foods high in saturated fat and cholesterol that you may need to eat less of is you have high blood cholesterol. Also, see the sample menus and recipes.

Read The Label

Reading food labels will help you choose foods low in calories, total and saturated fat, cholesterol, and sodium. Labels have two important parts: the nutrition information and the ingredients list. Also, some labels have different claims like "reduced" or "light". Here’s a closer look at labels.

Read the nutrition information

Look for the amount of calories, sodium, total and saturated fat on a food product’s nutrition label, shown at the left. If you have high blood pressure, compare similar products to find the one with the smallest amounts of sodium, as well as fat and calories if you also need to lose weight.

Look at the ingredients

All food labels list the product’s ingredients in descending order by weight. The ingredient in the greatest amount is listed first. The ingredient in the least amount is listed last. So, when watching your sodium look on the label for the words "sodium" or "salt." As you can see from the ingredients box to the left, if either word is listed first or more than once on the label, then the food probably has a lot of sodium.

Pork Principles

Many people think pork should not be eaten when trying to cut back on sodium. But fresh pork usually has no more sodium than do beef and poultry. Here are a few principles to help you keep pork dishes low in sodium:

• Choose fresh lean pork like pork chops, pork loin, or pork roast. Fresh pork has about the same amount of sodium as any other fresh cut of meat.

• Take care of how the pork is prepared. Spice it up with some of the low sodium seasonings. Also try the recipe for baked pork chops.

• Cut back on cured and processed pork like bacon, ham, sausage, and luncheon meats. Such products are very high in sodium.

Sodium in Foods (in milligrams) Meat, Poultry, Fish, and Shellfish . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fresh meat (including lean cuts of beef, pork, lamb and veal), poultry, finfish, cooked, 3 oz. Less than 90 Shellfish, 3 oz. 100-325 Tuna, canned, 3 oz. 300 *Sausage, 2 oz. 515 *Bologna, 2 oz. 535 *Frankfurter, 1-1/2 oz. 560 Boiled Ham, 2 oz. 750 Lean Ham, 3 oz. 1,025 Eggs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Egg white, 1 55 *Whole Egg, 1 65 Egg substitute, ¼ cup = 1 egg 80-120 Dairy Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Milk *Whole milk, 1 cup 120 Skim or 1% milk, 1 cup 125 Bulttermilk, salt added, 1 cup 260 Cheese *Natural cheese: *Swiss cheese, 1 oz. 75 *Cheddar cheese, 1 oz. 175 *Bleu cheese, 1 oz. 395 Low fat cheese, 1 oz. 150 *Processed cheese and cheese spreads, 1 oz. 75 Lower sodium and fat versions, 1 oz. Read the label *Cottage cheese, (regular), ½ cup 455 Cottage cheese, (low fat), ½ cup 460 Yogurt *Yogurt, whole milk, plain, 8 oz. 105 Yogurt, fruit or flavored, low fat or non fat, plain, 8 oz. 120-150 Yogurt, nonfat or low fat, plain, 8 oz. 160-175 Vegetables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fresh or frozen vegetables, or no salt and canned (cooked without salt), ½ cup Less than 70 Vegetables, canned, no sauce, ½ cup 55-470 *Vegetables, canned or frozen with sauce, ½ cup Read the label Tomato juice, canned, ¾ cup 660 Breads, Cereals, Rice, Pasta, Dry Peas and Beans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Breads and Crackers Breads, 1 slice 110-175 English muffin, ½ 130 Bagel, ½ 190 Cracker, saltine type, 5 squares 195 *Baking powdered biscuit, 1 305 Cereals Ready-to-eat Shredded wheat, ¾ cup Less than 5 Puffed wheat and rice cereals, 1-1/2 to 1-2/3 cup Less than 5 Granola-type cereals, ½ cup 5-25 Ring and nugget cereals, 1 cup 170-310 Flaked cereals, 2/3 to 1 cup 170-360 Cooked Cooked cereal (unsalted), ½ cup Less than 5 Instant cooked cereal, 1 packet = ¾ cup 180 Pasta and Rice Cooked rice and pasta, (unsalted), ½ cup Less than 10 *Flavored rice mix, cooked, ½ cup 250-390 Peas and Beans Peanut butter, unsalted, 2 tbsp. Less than 5 Peanut butter, 2 tbsp. 150 Dry beans, home cooked, (unsalted), or no salt added canned, ½ cup Less than 5 Dry beans, plain, canned, ½ cup 350-590 *Dry beans, canned with added fat or meat, ½ cup 425-630 Fruits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fruits (fresh, frozen, canned), ½ cup Less than 10 Fats and Oils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oil, 1 tbsp. 0 *Butter, unsalted, 1 tsp. 1 *Butter, salted, 1 tsp. 25 Margarine, unsalted, 1 tsp. Less than 5 Margarine, salted, 1 tsp. 50 Imitation mayonnaise, 1 tbsp. 75 *Mayonnaise, 1 tsp. 80 *Prepared salad dressings, low calorie, 2 tbsp. 50-310 *Prepared salad dressings, 2 tbsp. 210-440 Snacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Popcorn, Chips, and Nuts Unsalted nuts, ¼ cup Less than 5 Salted nuts, ¼ cup 185 *Unsalted potato chips and corn chips, 1 cup Less than 5 *Salted potato chips and corn chips, 1 cup 170-285 Unsalted popcorn, 2-1/2 cups Less than 10 Salted popcorn, 2-1/2 cups 330 Candy Jelly beans, 10 large 5 *Milk chocolate bar, 1 oz. bar 25 Frozen Desserts *Ice cream, ½ cup 35-50 Frozen yogurt, low fat or non fat, ½ cup 40-55 Ice milk, ½ cup 55-60 Condiments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mustard, chili sauce, hot sauce, 1 tsp. 36-65 Catsup, steak sauce, 1 tbsp. 100-230 Salsa, tartar sauce, 1 tbsp. 85-205 Salt, 1/6 tsp. 390 Pickles, 5 slices 280-460 Soy sauce, lower sodium, 1 tbsp. 600 Soy sauce, 1 tbsp. 1,030 Convenience Foods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . **Canned and dehydrated soups, 1 cup 600-1,300 **Lower sodium versions Read the label ***Canned and frozen main dishes, 8 oz. 500-1,570 ***Lower sodium versions Read the label *Choices are higher in saturated fat, cholesterol, or both. **Creamy soups are higher in saturated fat and cholesterol ***Limit main dishes that have ingredients higher in saturated fat, cholesterol, or both. Source: Adapted from Home and Garden Bulletin 253-7, U.S. Department of Agriculture, July 1993 . . . . . Take Care Beware . . . . . Some fatty foods contain large amounts of salt. Examples include processed pork, bacon, and corned beef. Also "fast foods" can contain both salt and fat. At the restaurant, ask that salt not be added to your meal during cooking. To cut down on how much of these foods you have, try eating smaller portions. If possible, choose foods that are baked or grilled—and hold the mayo and special sauces such as barbecue or tartar. These tips are also important for those trying to lose weight.

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