Some people think “not me, I never add salt to my meals”. If you eat bread, ready meals in any form, tinned vegetables, hard cheese such as cheddar and gouda, bacon or other “prepared” meats such as sausages or use stock cubes, tinned sauces and instant noodles or instant potato mix then you would be surprised to find out how much salt is actually added to these products.

Without even adding one half teaspoon of salt to your food, just by eating these items you could be way over the recommended maximum adult salt intake of 5-6 grams (1 teaspoon) a day.

High salt intake can cause lots of health problems; high blood pressure, water retention, weight gain and contributing to osteoporosis, kidney disease, asthma and stomach cancer. That one extra teaspoon of salt you add to the water when cooking vegetables or you add to your meal before eating can be seriously detrimental to your health.

Sadly the salt pot on the table is a habit that is hard to break and it’s true that food can taste a little bland for a few days without added salt but we are lucky that nowadays there are many ways to reduce the salt without sacrificing the taste.

There is a lot of information available on salt free diets and many articles say look at the labels on bottled, prepared and tinned food before you buy them. All well and good but many people haven’t got time to study every item before placing it in the basket. Kids to pick up, dinner to prepare, washing to do, so many tasks, so little time and always rushed.

Lowering your salt intake can be managed fairly easily and without much effort just by following a few simple guidelines:

- use as few convenience, pre-prepared and bottled/tinned foods as possible
- don’t add salt to your food whilst cooking or at the table
- use fresh food as much as possible, especially fruit and vegetables
- choose one or two low sodium flavourings to use in your cooking
- use more natural flavourings such as herbs, lemon juice and herb vinegars
- use fresh meat instead of prepared meat such as bacon, sausages and corned beef
- use cottage cheese and yoghurt instead of hard cheeses
- avoid pickles and “instant” foods
- replace snacks such as salted peanuts and popcorn with dried fruit

When changing to a salt free diet, don’t try to do it all on the same day, you will find that your food tastes bland and uninteresting.

Change gradually over a few days and you will find that you don’t actually miss salt and the food itself seems to have more flavour. Your taste buds will adapt and you will feel healthier.

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