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Cutting down on salt
Most special diets recommend a reduction in the intake of sodium, a component of salt and other ingredients. On average we eat about 9 grams (2 tea spoonfuls ) of salt a day. About two-thirds of this is added by food manufacters when the food is processed. The remainder, about half is added at home during cooking or at the table, and half is naturally present in food. We all need some salt, but only about 5 grams each day. So most of us eat much more salt than we need and, on average, our salt intake needs to be reduced by around a third.
Excessive salt in the diet is one of a number of factors believed to be associated with the development of high blood pressure, this in turn can cause heart disease, kidney disease and strokes. Even though scientists have not yet been able to provide sufficient evidence that eating too much salt is a direct cause of hypertension, many studies have shown that a reduction in salt will help to decrease hypertension . Virtually everyone treated for hypertension is told to cut down on his or her intake of salt. So it is worth trying to cut down the amount of salt eaten.
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SODIUM CONTENT IN CONDIMENTS AND SEASONING
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Food Item
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Amount
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Sodium (mg)
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Seasonings
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Table salt
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1 tbs
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1965
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Baking powder
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1 tbs
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472
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Chilli powder
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1 tbs
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30
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Garlic salt
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1 tbs
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1850
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Horseradish
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1 tbs
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182
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Meat tenderiser
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1 tbs
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1750
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Mustard
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1 tbs
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413
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Green olives in brine
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4
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360
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Onion salt
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1 tbs
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1620
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Sauces
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Chilli
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1 tbsp
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786
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Ketchup
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1 tbsp
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489
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Soy
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1 tbsp
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1716
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Tabasco
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1 tsp
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131
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Worcestershire
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1 tbsp
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360
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Salad Dressings
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French
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1 tbsp
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286
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Mayonniase
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1 tbsp
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72
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Thousand Island
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1 tbsp
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312
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Seasoning without salt
In the kitchen, make use of ingredients that provide flavour but no sodium. Draw upon garlic, onions, root ginger, vinegar, wine, fiery chilli pepper’s and the juice from lemons, oranges and other fruits. If you must use a a prepared condiment, stick to lower salt varieties or improvised salt- reduced substitutes: Worcestershire sauce, for instance, though hardly salt free, has much less sodium than most soya sauces, and packs an equally aromatic punch
Enchancing the flavour By choosing highly aromatic herbs and spices you can add interest to meat dishes without noticing the loss of salt
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Learning to like less salt
The best strategy for cutting down salt is to re-educate your taste buds to enjoy other natural flavours in food. By gradually reducing the amount of salt you add to food over a period of days or weeks, you will become more sensitive to saltiness. After a few weeks of progressively decreasing the use of the salt shaker, an amount that would have once seemed normal will make your food taste unpleasantly salty
Washing added salt away
The added salt content of processed foods can be significantly reduced by rinsing them in running water. a study in the North Carolina,USA, revealed that canned beans, rinsed for one minute, lost 41% of their sodium content. The same treatment removed 76% of the salt added to canned tuna
Holding the salt
Cut down on sodium levels by limiting the amount of salt used in recipes. A recipe designed to serve four people should contain no more than a half teaspoon of salt. This will add (125 milligrams) of sodium to each helping, which is well within the recommended daily allowance
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