According to the FDA, diets higher in sodium are associated with an increased risk of developing high blood pressure, which is a major cause of stroke and heart disease. This is because a high sodium diet draws water into the bloodstream, which can increase the volume of blood and subsequently your blood pressure.
The daily recommended sodium intake to maintain a healthy heart is 2300mg per day (1 teaspoon) of salt or 1500mg for persons who are pre-hypertensive or already hypertensive.
There are simple and affordable ways to reduce your sodium intake, and in this post we will share 3 of them. So fasten your seat belt, grab a cup of green tea and READ OnÂ
1. Eat whole, unprocessed foods
Processed foods are often loaded with excess salt to make it stay longer on the shelf, as salt is a natural preservative. Also some of them contain Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) for more flavor and to keep you coming back for me. The end result of all these is you ingesting excess sodium. This includes processed foods, canned foods, noodles, salty chips, etc.
Practice the 80/20 rule, and try to eat whole foods at least 80% of the time. The more whole, unprocessed foods you eat, the lower your sodium consumption.
2. Read your food labels
If there is one skill you need to practice on this healthy living journey, it is how to read your food labels. This gives you a true picture of what is going into your system, because it is only when you know the amounts of sodium you consume that you can effectively begin to cut it down and even measure your progress. Do well to check the sodium content per serving in your food labels .
3. Ditch seasoning cubes, and use natural herbs and spices to cook
Seasoning cubes contain excess sodium, and most times we use a lot of them to make our food so tasty. However did you know that the major ingredient in seasoning cubes is salt, followed by other artificial flavors and MSG?
A lot of us grew up eating food cooked with seasoning cubes and we think that it is never possible to make tasty meals without them. But nature has blessed us with a lot of spices which works great to season our meals. And you know the best thing about cooking with natural spices? They are loaded with antioxidants, and amazing nutrients which helps to keep you healthy, strong and prevents disease.
Think about your ginger, garlic, onion, parsley, coriander, cumin, turmeric, dill, thyme, rosemary, nutmeg, uziza, black pepper, white pepper, cameroon pepper etc. Nature has blessed us with all these, however most of us are still stuck on seasoning cubes which is not good for your body.
And you know the best part – we have gone a step further to blend these spices into ready to use, natural and delicious seasoning powders for you which has been tested by thousands of mums over the years with amazing testimonies. Check them out HERE
We hope you found these tips helpful and will be implementing them. If you have further questions, please drop them in the comments section below and we will respond. Thank you for reading and feel free to share this post with anyone that needs it.
Cheers to living healthy and wholesome lives
