Sponsored: Low-sodium cooking ideas
Q: My doctor has advised me to cut down on my sodium and added salt to see if that helps my blood pressure. Do you have some suggestions for cooking and where I could find recipe ideas?
A: To reduce salt, try using fresh or dried herbs, Mrs Dash or other salt-free herb seasonings, pepper, garlic and fresh lemon juice to season your foods. The biggest culprit in terms of added salt and sodium is usually not the food we make at home, but the food we eat out. Look at your food labels when you shop at your Ingles Market and make sure individual items are less than 400mg/serving with the aim of keeping your sodium to less than 2400mg/day. A good meal plan to follow is the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) www.nhlbi.nih.gov/education/dash-eating-planeating-plan. The DASH eating plan emphasizes reducing sodium, increasing fruit, vegetables, beans and whole grains, including low-fat dairy products, and making your protein sources lean/lower in fat.
Leah McGrath, RDN, LDN
Ingles Markets Corporate Dietitian
facebook.com/LeahMcgrathDietitian
800-334-4936
