Quick Facts About High Blood Pressure and Salt
Some quick facts to be aware of include:
- Most sodium is consumed in the form of sodium chloride, which is table salt. Other forms of sodium are also found in food, so watch out for salt AND sodium.
- Try to have less than 2,400 milligrams of sodium a day -- that's the same as 6 grams of salt a day, or about 1 teaspoon. That includes ALL sodium and salt -- what's in the product and added in cooking and at the table.
- Processed foods account for most of the sodium and salt consumed.
- Kosher salt and sea salt are just that -- salt. Don't forget to include them when adding up your sodium intake for the day.
- Check food labels -- sodium is in some foods you might not expect, such as soy sauce and some antacids.
The ranges of sodium content for foods available in the retail market may vary by several hundreds of milligrams in similar foods. This table is provided to exemplify the importance of reading food labels to determine the sodium content of food.
|
Food Group
|
Serving Size
|
Range (mg)
|
|
Breads, all types
|
1 oz
|
95-210
|
|
Frozen pizza, plain, cheese
|
4 oz
|
450-1200
|
|
Frozen vegetables, all types
|
½ c
|
2-160
|
|
Salad dressing, regular fat, all types
|
2 Tbsp
|
110-505
|
|
Salsa
|
2 Tbsp
|
150-240
|
|
Soup (tomato), reconstituted
|
8 oz
|
700-1260
|
|
Tomato juice
|
8 oz (~1 c)
|
340-1040
|
|
Potato chips
|
1 oz (28.4 g)
|
120-180
|
|
Tortilla chips
|
1 oz (28.4 g)
|
105-160
|
|
Pretzels
|
1 oz (28.4 g)
|
290-560
|
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