9 hidden sources of salt you should know about

Even if you put less salt in your food, these food items are going to damage your heart and organs with high sodium content.

Do you use less salt in your food to save yourself and your family from heart disease? Well, we must say it is a smart move. But remember, reducing salt in cooking is not enough. Sodium can get into your diet from various sources and you might not even realise it. Here consultant dietician Niti Desai, Cumbala Hills Hospital, Mumbai lists some food items that you consume regularly, which exceeds your daily intake of salt unknowingly.

1. Papads and pickles: These come as sides with your main meal and are sodium bombs. Add to it the oil and other mix of condiments that go into their making, probably one spoon of pickle can overdo the daily requirement of your sodium intake (2.5 to 3 mg). Munching on papads? It s equivalent to a sodium rush in your blood. Here is why having too many papads is not good for you.

2. Condiments and sauces: There is sodium everywhere, right from your healthy salad dressings to your favourite tomato ketchup to the soy sauce, the mustard sauce, pasta sauce, what-have-you. Without sodium, which acts as a preservative for these condiments they won t even tastes half good. Relishing on them means more sodium on your plate. Here is how having extra salt can kill you.

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3. Chinese meals: They are loaded with sodium and not just salt. There is sodium from various sources like the condiments and mixes that go into the curries and soups to make it look appealing and taste lip-smacking.

4. Packaged foods: The whole gamut of ready-to-eat-meals, canned foods, tinned fish all contribute towards high sodium intake due to preservatives.

5. Cold cuts: The ham, salami, sausages that you just take away from the store without giving a second thought is overloaded with sodium. Regular consumption of these items is going to give your heart and the digestive system more pain than any gain.

6. Baked products: Bakery products are supposed to be sweet but don t forget most of the bake mixes contain a fair share of sodium. More you consume it, the sugar-salt combination erodes your system with a vengeance. Here are nine hidden sources of sugar that you should know about.

7. Dairy products: Oh how did salt come here? Most cheese, butter and margarines are loaded with salt. You need no more explanation why you need to cut down on them.

8. Pre-packaged soups and salads: They might be marketed as healthy but they are high in calories and salt. More reasons why you should stay away from them.

9. Savouries: You finished a pack of chips or salted peanuts over a cup of chai, let us not scare you by telling how much damage you have already done to your heart and other organs!

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