Low salt 低鹽

1. How much salt do I need everyday?

On average, an adult needs only 2000-3000mg of sodium everyday, which is almost equal to 1-1.5 teaspoon of salt. Natural food already contains the sodium we need and thus seasoning must be as little as possible if we want to keep a low salt diet.

2. What kinds of food contain high sodium?

Processed meat, such as beacon, luncheon meat, ham, sausages, canned corn beef, deep fired chicken, etc. all contain more than 10 times sodium than fresh meat. So always choose fresh meat instead of processed meat can surely help to reduce the sodium intake. Processed food, such as pickles, salt-fish, salt-egg, which are very common in Chinese menu should be avoided as well.

Sodium contained in common seasoning is also high. E.g. one teaspoon of salt contains 2325 sodium, which is equal to almost the daily average intake of an adult. Other seasoning, such as MSG, soy source, oyster sauce also contains high level of sodium.

Snacks such as biscuits, instant noodle, potato chips etc. all contain high level of sodium. Very often, these kinds of snacks also contain high level of sugar and thus should be avoided.

3. How can I limit the sodium absorbed in my diet?

The best way is to eat homemade food instead of processed or those from restaurants.

If you need to buy processed food, read the food label and nutrient panel carefully to choose low-salt food or snacks.

1. 每天需要攝入多少鹽份？

成人平均每天需要攝入的鈉是2000-3000mg , 大約是相等於1-1.5 茶匙鹽。 天然食物已經包含我們需要的鈉，如果想保持低鹽飲食的話，在烹調時應儘量少放調料。

2. 哪些食物的含鈉量高?

經加工的肉, 譬如醃肉, 午餐肉, 火腿, 香腸, 罐裝玉米牛肉, 烤雞等。 這些食物的納含量是新鮮肉的10倍。選擇食用新鮮的肉類代替被處理過的肉能幫助減少鈉的攝入。在中國菜中，經加工的食物, 譬如醃漬物, 鹹魚, 鹹蛋,，是非常普遍含鈉量高的食物，所以應該儘量避免食用。

鈉在一般調味料的含量是很高的。例如， 一個茶匙鹽包含2325 鈉, 幾乎等於成人的每日平均所需量。 其他調味料, 譬如MSG, 醬油, 蠔油的鈉含量也很高。

餅乾, 速食麵, 薯片等零食的鈉含量也很高，更通常含有高糖，因此應該避免吃。

3. 怎樣在飲食中限制鈉的吸收?

最佳的方式是在家自己做飯吃代替上餐館吃飯和吃加工的食物。

如果要買加工食物, 請先仔細地閱讀食物標籤和營養成分，儘量選擇低鹽份的食物或零食 。