If you need to limit Use healthy tips to shop, plan, and prepare with less sodium At home Sodium is a mineral found in most foods that helps balance • Use herbs and spices instead of salt. how much fluid your body keeps. Sodium also helps regulate • Don’t use salt substitutes unless approved by your doctor nerve and muscle function. or . Most have potassium (some people with kidney disease must limit potassium). Why limit sodium? At restaurants Healthy kidneys can get rid of too much sodium in your body, • Choose restaurants best suited to your or where food but when kidneys do not work well, sodium and fluid can build is made to order. Call ahead and explain that you are up. This can cause: following a special diet. Ask about the menu and how their food is prepared. Many restaurants have websites with • high blood pressure • swelling of ankles menus posted. • fluid weight gain or fingers • thirst • puffiness around the eyes • Request no salt when ordering grilled, sautéed or baked entrees. How much is okay to eat? • Ask that sauces be omitted or served on the side. Your doctor recommends eating less than • Chinese and Japanese food may be high in sodium. Request ______mg per day. no MSG (monosodium glutamate), , or fish sauce in food preparation. Choose steamed rice. (Fried rice often has soy sauce added.) Do not add soy sauce after food is served. Read food labels Use substitutes to find the best choice for your diet for high-sodium foods

Serving size tells you what a single portion is. Instead of: Try: Salt and salt seasoning: • Table salt • Fresh garlic Servings per container lists how • Seasoning salt • Fresh onion many portions per container. • Garlic salt • Garlic powder • Onion salt • Onion powder • salt • Black pepper % Daily value is based on a • Lemon pepper • Lemon juice 2,000 calorie daily diet. This • Lite salt • Low-sodium/salt-free number helps you know if a food is • Meat tenderizer seasoning blends high or low in a nutrient, even if you • Bouillon cubes • Vinegar, regular • Flavor enhancers and flavored eat more than 2,000 calories. High-sodium sauces such as: • 1 g of sodium = 1000 • Barbecue sauce • Homemade or low-sodium milligrams (mg) • Steak sauce sauces and salad dressings • 1 tsp of salt = 2,300 • Soy sauce • Vinegar milligrams of sodium • Teryiaki sauce • Dry mustard • Oyster sauce Cured foods such as: Ingredients are listed in order of • • Fresh beef, veal, weight, with the item of the most • Salt pork pork, poultry weight listed first. • • Fish • Sauerkraut • Eggs Not a good choice if: • Pickles, pickle relish • There is greater than 8% of the daily value of sodium per serving. • Lox and herring • Salt is listed in the first five ingredients. • Olives Canned: • Soups • Homemade or • Juices low-sodium soups • Vegetables • Canned food without added salt

© 2011 National Kidney Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved. 02-10-0412_EBB What has high sodium? What has less sodium or none?

• Table salt • Fresh foods: Fruits • Seasonings like soy sauce, teriyaki Vegetables sauce, garlic salt or onion salt Meat, Fish, Poultry Dairy products (milk, eggs, cheese) • Most canned foods and frozen dinners (unless they say “low sodium”) • Frozen vegetables • Pickled, cured, smoked or processed meats, like ham, bacon, and cold cuts • Fresh seasonings (garlic, onion, lemon juice, pepper) • Salted snack foods, like chips and crackers • Fresh or dried herbs and spices • Canned or dehydrated soups (basil, bay leaf, curry, ginger, like packaged noodle soup sage, thyme)

• Most restaurant foods, take-out • Unsalted popcorn, pretzels, plain tortilla or corn chips foods and fast foods

What is a common serving size?

Food groupS Serving sizes Food groups Serving sizes Meat, fish or poultry Fruits Meats, poultry, fish 1 oz cooked Fresh 1 small or 1/2 large Dairy Canned or frozen fruit 1/2 cup Milk or 4 oz or 1/2 cup Juices 4 oz or 1/2 cup 1 egg or Berries 1 cup Egg 1/4 cup egg substitute Grapes, cherries 12 Cheese 1 oz 1/4 cup Grains Fats and oils Cooked pasta, rice 1/3 cup Oils, margarine 1 teaspoon Cereal, cooked 1/2 cup Mayonnaise 1 tablespoon Cereal, ready-to-eat 1 cup Salad dressing 2 tablespoons Bread 1 slice Sweets Hamburger bun 1/2 bun Cookies 1 cookie Vegetables Ice cream, sorbet, gelatin 1/2 cup Cooked 1/2 cup Cake, 2 x 2 inches 1 piece Raw 1 medium or 1 cup cut up Fruit pie 1/6 of 8-inch pie Juices 4 oz or 1/2 cup Sugar, jelly, jam 1 tablespoon who specialize in kidney disease can tell you how many Nuts, seeds, and legumes servings from each food group you are allowed at each . Nuts 1/4 cup or 1 oz Depending on your diet prescription and preferences, you may be allowed to eat more than one. Seeds 2 tablespoons Cooked legumes, dry beans, peas 1/2 cup Peanut butter 2 tablespoons www.kidney.org www.litholink.com