How Much Salt Should We Eat?

Many of us enjoy a bit of salt on our food. And you might think you don’t eat much salt, especially if you don’t add it to your food. But don’t be so sure.

What we don’t realise is that salt is hidden in everyday foods that don’t even taste that salty! Things like bread, breakfast cereal, ready meals, sauces, baked beans and pizza. In fact, three quarters of the salt that we eat is found in the foods we buy.

It means that most of us are eating much more salt that than we realise, and that’s before we add any salt while cooking or at the table.

The bad news is that too much salt can raise your blood pressure, which means we are more at risk of getting heart disease or having a stroke.

Make Sure You Are Getting All The Nutrition You Need

How Much Salt?

To stay healthy, our goal should be to eat no more than 6g of salt a day for adults– that’s around a teaspoonful, which isn’t very much at all.

That’s why it’s so important to watch the salt – both how much we add to food and how much is in the foods that we buy.

It’s not just adults that need to watch the salt – if you’ve got kids, you need to keep an eye on it for them as well. If they're under 11, they should be eating less salt than you – that’s even less than one teaspoon.

·         Kids aged one to three: 2g salt a day (0.8g sodium)

·         Kids aged four to six: 3g salt a day (1.2g sodium)

·         Kids aged seven to 10: 5g salt a day (2g sodium)

·         Kids aged 11 and over: 6g salt a day (2.4g sodium)

Not many of us realise that salt is hidden in everyday foods that don’t taste that salty.

Watch out for these foods, which are almost always high in salt because of the way that they are produced.

Try to eat them less often or have smaller amounts:

·         bacon, ham and smoked meats

·         cheese

·         pickles

·         salami

·         salted and dry roasted nuts

·         salt fish and smoked fish

·         soy sauce

·         gravy granules, stock cubes and yeast extract

The salt in these foods can vary between different brands or varieties. Check the food label to help you choose ones that are lower in salt:

·         bread, bread products like wraps, crumpets, scones and sandwiches

·         pasta sauces

·         savoury snacks like crisps and salted nuts

·         pizza

·         ready meals

·         soup

·         sausages

·         tomato ketchup, mayonnaise and other sauces

·         breakfast cereals

Take a look at what foods are healthy at the website:

http://www.loseweightfeelgr8.com/healthy-foods.html