Eating A Low-salt Diet For Ménière's Disease: How Do You Limit The Salt In Your Diet

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How do you limit the salt in your diet?

Limiting the salt in your diet may seem difficult; after all, the typical U.S. diet includes about 4,000 mg of salt per day. However, if you are aware of the salt content in foods and avoid high-salt foods, you will be able to reach a salt intake of 1,000 mg per day.

Perhaps the major misconception people have when limiting salt is that the biggest source of salt in the diet is salt added at the table. This is not true. In general, the biggest source of salt is processed foods and foods from restaurants. About two-thirds of the salt in our diet comes from these sources, while salt added at the table accounts for only about 15% of our salt intake.

Following are some suggestions to help you limit your salt intake.

Evaluate your diet

• Talk with a health professional about how much salt you need and how to evaluate your current diet. He or she will probably ask you what types of foods you are eating and get a rough estimate of your current salt intake. Have questions prepared to ask him or her.
• Track your salt intake for a few days by counting the milligrams of salt in the foods you eat. You will have to know how to read food labels . Record your intake in the salt record (What is a PDF document?).
• Review your record with your health professional. He or she will be able to help you target which foods to avoid and provide other dietary advice.

Cook with less salt

When you cook your food, you can cut down on salt by:

• Using fresh or frozen foods.
• Rinsing canned vegetables.
• Flavoring your food with spices, not salt. Don't use soy sauce, steak sauce, onion salt, garlic salt, mustard, or ketchup on your food, since these contain a lot of salt.
• Avoiding processed foods.

Limit salt in your foods

Look for salt in the foods you prepare and try to avoid high-salt foods.

• Read food labels . They tell you how much salt a food contains per serving.
• Read ingredient lists and be aware of other forms of salt. These include monosodium glutamate (MSG, common in Chinese food), sodium citrate, sodium alginate, sodium hydroxide, and sodium phosphate.
• Substitute low-salt foods for high-salt foods. Use a general list of "foods allowed" and "foods to avoid". For instance, milk and vegetables are low-salt foods while frozen prepared meals and crackers are high in salt. Foods allowed have low salt content; foods to avoid have high salt content.
• Avoid fast food and processed foods.
• Ask for low-salt foods when you eat out.
• Drink low-salt bottled water.
• Don't add table salt to your food.
• Don't drink water that has been softened.

If you do not cook for yourself, let those who help you know that you need a low-salt diet:

• If family members or friends help you, or if you hire someone, print this section and have them read it. This will help them provide you with the right food choices.
• If you have meals delivered to you, attend a senior center for meals, or have another source of meals, ask the administrator of the program about low-salt meals. You may have to ask for special meals.
• If you feel you need help, ask the provider of a nutrition program (often a health department or hospital in your area) to find out where meals are served in your area. Be sure they know that you have to limit the amount of salt in your diet.

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Last updated:	November 07, 2006
Author:	Ralph Poore
Reviewed By:	Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine, Barrie J. Hurwitz, MD - Neurology
Editors:	Susan Van Houten, RN, BSN, MBA, Pat Truman