Low Salt Diet

A 2 gram sodium low salt diet means eating foods that don’t have a lot of salt in them. Sodium is found in salt and can make your blood pressure rise if you eat too much. Many foods have sodium in them. You should limit or not eat the foods below if you have high blood pressure or heart failure. Liver problems or kidney disease are other reasons to carefully limit sodium in foods you eat. In cirrhosis salt causes the fluid to increase in the abdomen.

Do not eat the high sodium foods below. Limit milk and yogurt to 2 cups (16 ounces) a day. You should not eat more than 3 ounces of regular cheese a week. Regular cheeses have salt in them. Do not add salt to food during cooking or eating. Read labels on all packaged foods to check for sodium. You need to eat less than 2000 milligrams (mg), or 2 grams of sodium a day. Many stores now carry foods low in sodium such as cheese, soup, crackers, bread, salad dressing, and snack chips. If you buy frozen or canned foods, choose low sodium or low salt brands. Only buy store bought frozen meals with less than 400 mg of sodium for each serving. Check with your care giver before using salt-free seasonings. The lists below refer to regular foods and are not low in sodium.