Eight Ways to Cut Salt Out of Your Diet

While the Food and Drug Administration mulls over whether to set limits on salt content in processed foods—after being strongly urged to do so yesterday by such groups as the American Medical Association and the Center for Science in the Public Interest—you may be wondering how to reduce your own sodium intake to the recommended daily limit of 2,300 milligrams for most healthy people. (The daily limit is lower—1,500 milligrams—for blacks, those with high blood pressure, and middle-aged and older adults, according to the 2005 U.S. Dietary Guidelines.) Here are some suggestions for cutting back on salt, provided by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute and Stephen Havas, vice president for science, quality, and public health at the American Medical Association.

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• Cook from scratch so you know exactly what's in your food. You might be surprised at the sodium content included in that prepackaged meal you love: The CSPI has analyzed a whole range of processed foods and has found ready-made roasted carved turkey containing as much as 5,410 milligrams of sodium per serving; half of a ready-made pepperoni pizza might contain as much as 1,350 milligrams.

• When you do opt for ready-made pizza or other packaged foods, choose products that say they're sodium free, very low in sodium, light in sodium, or unsalted or have low or reduced sodium. If you can't find many, Havas advises asking your local grocery store to start stocking them. Even bread and cereal may surprise you: The CSPI found whole-wheat bread containing anywhere from 150 to 190 milligrams of sodium per slice, depending on the brand; white bread had 115 to 230 milligrams per slice.

• Substitute spices, herbs, and salt-free blends for salt in cooking and at the dinner table.

• Watch for sodium and salt content. Table salt is a form of sodium chloride, but other forms of sodium are also included in foods.

• Avoid instant foods such as pasta, rice, and cereals, which usually include salt. Spaghetti sauce, according to the CSPI, contains 270 to 770 milligrams of sodium per serving, depending on the brand.

• Eat lots of fruits and vegetables because they have "essentially no sodium," Havas says.

• At restaurants, ask your server which foods the restaurant prepares without adding salt—and order those items. "The more restaurants hear this, the more they're going to change the way they're cooking," Havas says.

• Rinse canned foods to wash off some of the salt.