If your goal is to eat less salt, here are some simple ways to do it.
1. Use fresh or frozen vegetables instead of canned. Half a cup of canned vegetables has about 15 per cent of your daily sodium requirements.
2. Make your own potato chips. Chips are brimming with salt, but luckily you can make your own in a snap.
3. Consider condiment substitutes. Soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, Worcestershire sauce and other condiments are brimming with sodium. Low-sodium versions are available; you can also try adding sodium-free flavour enhancers like vinegar or citrus juices like lime, pineapple, lemon and orange.
4. Go easy on the canned spaghetti sauce. Half a cup of jarred tomato sauce packs in almost 25 per cent of your daily dose of sodium.
5. Cook more. Set a goal to cook more at home where you have the most control over the ingredients.
6. Replace bottled with homemade salad dressing. Bottled salad dressings are a hidden source of sodium. Lighter salad dressings exist, but many replace fat and salt with higher amounts of sugar. Instead, make your own salad dressing in minutes.
7. Swap canned broth. Do you find yourself tossing money when you buy tons of canned or boxed broths and stocks? Make it a weekend project to cook up a batch and freeze half to use later.
8. Choose dried beans. Instead of canned varieties, choose dried with virtually no sodium. If you're a canned-bean fan, then you'll be happy to hear that a recent study showed that rinsing and draining canned beans reduced their sodium content by about 40 per cent.
9. Use fresh herbs and spices. Resist the urge to reach for the salt shaker or spices like onion salt or garlic salt. Instead, choose fresh herbs and spices to flavour food. They're practically sodium-free and add tons of flavour.
10. Try juicing. A cup of vegetable-juice cocktail packs in almost one-third of your daily recommended amount of sodium. Instead, make your own favourite veggie-juice combinations without worrying about the salt.