We have long been told to cut back on salt to reduce blood pressure. That’s old hat. (But one worth wearing). Now we learn that a low salt diet can also help us sleep better! In a roundabout way. Japanese researchers have shown that cutting back on salt can reduce those annoying nighttime trips to the bathroom that become more and more frequent with age. Actually, they are more than just annoying because interference with sleep is stressful and can cause daytime irritability and fatigue.
The researchers enlisted over 300 subjects, all of whom had sleeping problems. They also had very high salt intake, averaging about 11 grams of salt a day. That is almost double the usual recommended maximum of 6 grams a day, which according to many researchers is probably too high for most of the population who should consume no more than 4 grams. The Japanese subjects who were told to reduce their salt intake managed to drop it to 8 grams a day, not a huge drop but one that resulted in decreasing the nighttime trips from an average of 2.3 to 1.4. In the control group, the salt intake actually went up and so did the trips to the bathroom. And remember that 8 grams a day is still way too much salt.
If you are interested in cutting back on salt, the target figure should be in the ballpark of 3.75 grams of salt a day. That’s about half a teaspoon and contains 1.5 grams of sodium. The conversion factor to go from salt to sodium is 2.5. Divide the amount of salt by 2.5 and you’ll get the amount of sodium. To go from sodium to salt, multiply by 2.5.
Cutting back on salt is not easy because only about 10% of our intake comes from the salt shaker, the rest from processed foods. Most people know that canned soups, canned vegetables, processed sauces and processed meats are high in salt. A cup of chicken soup can contain as much as 4.5 grams of salt. But they may not realize that the bread they use to make that cold cut sandwich also can contain up to 1 gram of salt. Dough is made with a lot of salt and that unfortunately includes pizza and all the pastas.
It pays to try to keep salt intake below 4 grams a day in more ways than one. Not only can it reduce blood pressure which may make for more nights in a lifetime, it can make those nights more comfortable.
It is worthwhile to look through the following list of foods and their sodium content. Remember that the ideal target is about 1500 mg a day. A couple of strips of bacon, especially turkey bacon, will put you over that. Restaurant foods are not included here, but note that a Big Mac has 950 mg sodium and two slices of pizza, depending on toppings will have 1000-2000 mg. As you can see, keeping sodium intake around 1500 mg is quite a challenge.
| FOOD | SERVING SIZE | SODIUM mg |
| VEGETABLES AND FRUIT |
Fresh and most frozen vegetables contain very little sodium. |
|
|
Peppers (jalapeno, hot chilli), canned/bottled |
30 mL (2 Tbsp) |
843-1201 |
|
Tomato sauce (plain or with vegetables), canned/bottled |
125 mL (1/2 cup) |
585-721 |
|
Sauerkraut, canned/bottled |
125 mL (1/2 cup) |
496 |
|
Pickles (sour, dill) |
1 small |
299-447 |
|
Vegetables, all varieties, canned |
125 mL (1/2 cup) |
245-439 |
|
Tomato juice and vegetable cocktail |
125 mL (1/2 cup) |
226-325 |
|
Stewed tomatoes, canned |
125 mL (1/2 cup) |
298 |
| Olives, canned | 4 olives | 463 |
| Pizza sauce |
125 mL (1/2 cup) |
246 |
|
Grain Products |
Grains such as rice, barley, quinoa, oats and wheat are low in sodium. |
|
| Cereal | ||
|
Cream of wheat, all types, cooked |
175 mL (3/4 cup) |
370 |
|
Breakfast cereal, dry, all varieties |
175 mL (3/4 cup) |
216-240 |
| Other Grain Products | ||
|
Crackers, all varieties, salted |
30g |
192-282 |
| Brad roll (rye, french) | 1 roll (35g) | 234-258 |
| Bread, all types | 1 slice (35g) | 182-211 |
| Muffin (carrot, blueberry, chocolate chip) | 1 small (66g) | 203-232 |
| Bagel, all varieties | 1/2 bagel (45g) | 222-310 |
| MILK AND ALTERNATIVES | ||
| Buttermilk | 250 mL (1 cup) | 272-492 |
| Cheese | ||
| Cottage cheese (1%, 2%) |
250 mL (1 cup) |
736-970 |
| Blue |
50 g (1 ½ oz) |
573-904 |
| Processed cheese slices (cheddar, Swiss) |
50 g (1 ½ oz) |
711-960 |
| Feta |
50 g (1 ½ oz) |
458 |
| Cheese spread | 30 mL (2 tbsp) | 633 |
|
Cheddar, colby, edam, gouda, mozzarella, provolone, camembert |
50 g (1 ½ oz) |
302-438 |
| Cottage cheese, fat free |
250 mL (1 cup |
570 |
| MEAT AND ALTERNATIVES |
Fresh and unprocessed frozen meat, poultry and fish contain very little sodium. Bagged dried peas, beans and lentils contain little sodium |
|
| Meat |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
|
| Bacon, cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
1247-1920 |
|
Bacon (back bacon/peameal, English style bacon), cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
1152 |
| Ham, cured, cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
621-1125
|
| Beef jerky |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
976 |
| Corned beef, canned |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
668 |
| Ham, reduced sodium, cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
727 |
| Poultry | ||
| Turkey bacon |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
1714 |
| Turkey, smoked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
747 |
|
Chicken/turkey, rotisserie/ready to serve, barbequed |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
350-540 |
| Chicken nuggets or burger, cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
334-418 |
| Meat Products |
|
|
|
Salami or pepperoni, all varieties |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
702-1418 |
| Ham or chicken, canned |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
774-1064 |
|
Luncheon/deli meat, all varieties |
75 g (2 ½ oz), 3 slices |
937-939 |
|
Wiener, frankfurter, all varieties, cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
528-971 |
|
Chorizo (beef, pork) |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
542 |
|
Sausage, all varieties, cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
643-733 |
|
Luncheon/deli meat (pork, chicken), reduced sodium |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
781 |
|
Salami or bologna, all varieties, reduced sodium |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
446-702 |
|
Ham, honey, cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
675 |
|
Liverwurst |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
525-645 |
|
Pate, canned |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
290-605 |
|
Blood sausage/blood pudding, cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
510 |
|
Sausage, all varieties, reduced sodium, cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
441 |
|
Wiener, frankfurter, all varieties, reduced sodium, cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
233 |
| Fish and Seafood | ||
|
Mackerel or cod, salted |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
1353-5292 |
|
Anchovies, canned |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
2756 |
|
Fish, all varieties, smoked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
502-771 |
|
Herring, pickled or kippered |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
652-688 |
|
Shellfish (crab, shrimp, calamari, oyster, lobster, mussels), canned or cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
124-652 |
|
Caviar (red, black) |
15 ml (1 c. à thé) |
243 |
| Fish sticks, cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
299 |
|
Fish (sardines, salmon, tuna, mackerel), canned |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
185-312 |
| Meat Alternatives | ||
|
Meatless (bacon, bacon bits), cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
1099-1337 |
|
Baked beans, all varieties, canned |
175 mL (3/4 cup) |
644-935 |
|
Refried beans, canned |
175 mL (3/4 cup) |
690-770 |
|
Meatless (sausage, chicken, meatballs, fish sticks, wiener, luncheon slices), cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
353-666 |
|
Legumes (dried beans, pea, lentil), canned all varieties |
175 mL (3/4 cup) |
489-638 |
|
Vegetarian meatloaf or patty, cooked |
75 g (2 ½ oz) |
413 |
|
Pumpkin or squash seeds, salted, without shell |
60 mL (1/4 cup) |
412 |
|
Nuts (peanuts, almonds, cashews), salted, without shell |
60 mL (1/4 cup) |
152-282 |
|
Egg substitute |
125 mL (1/2 cup) |
264 |
| OTHER | ||
|
Salt (table, Kosher, pickling, sea) |
5 mL (1 tsp) |
1720-2373 |
| Salt, seasoned |
5 mL (1 tsp) |
1550 |
|
Yeast extract spread |
2 Tbsp (30 g) |
1088 |
| Soy sauce |
15 mL (1 Tbsp) |
899-1244 |
| Salt substitute, Cardia |
5 mL (1 tsp) |
1080 |
| Salt substitute, Half salt |
5 mL (1 tsp) |
800 |
| Sauce, teriyaki |
15 mL (1 Tbsp) |
700 |
| Soy sauce, reduced sodium |
15 mL (1 Tbsp) |
656 |
| Sauce (cheese, nacho cheese) |
60 mL (1/4 cup) |
499-900 |
| Oyster sauce |
15 mL (1 Tbsp) |
499 |
| Salsa, all varieties |
60 mL (1/4 cup) |
365 |
|
Sauce (steak, barbecue) |
30 mL (2 Tbsp) |
326-348 |
| Ketchup, yellow mustard or relish |
30 mL (2 Tbsp) |
376-348 |
| Sauce, teriyaki, reduced sodium |
15 mL (1 Tbsp) |
325 |
| Capers, canned |
15 mL (1 Tbsp) |
205 |
| SNACKS | ||
|
Pretzels (soft, hard) |
1 small or 50 g |
388-620 |
| Cheese puffs |
50 g |
430-470 |
|
Popcorn, flavoured or plain microwave packaged? |
50 g |
288-433 |
|
Popcorn, flavoured, reduced sodium |
50 g |
245 |
|
Corn nuts, all varieties |
50 g |
282-300 |
|
Chips (tortilla, vegetable, potato, soy), all varieties |
50 g |
233-499 |
