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There is a lot of confusion about the relationship between salt and sodium. Before I was diagnosed with high blood pressure I like many people had always assumed that sodium was just another name for salt. Some food labels list sodium and some list salt so I just assumed they were the same thing. They are not!
Salt (scientific name: sodium chloride, NaCl) is comprised of 40% sodium and 60% chloride. Basically only 40% of salt is sodium, so putting the sodium levels on the food packaging instead of the salt levels may cause people to think there is much less salt in the food... Thankfully many food manufacturers are now listing both the salt and sodium levels on the label.
It is the sodium content in salt which makes salt bad. It is sodium which raises blood pressure, but salt contains the highest amount of sodium we consume. It is therefore the salt which is added to our food during manufacture to make it taste better which is the main cause for concern.
Note: sodium can be found separate from salt sometimes, for example baking powder/baking soda is sodium bicarbonate. If you are looking to lower your sodium intake, read the labels as you might be surprised where you find sodium.
Current recommendations in the the US and UK say you should consume less than 2.3 grams of sodium which is approximately 6 grams of salt a day.
A commonly used rough guide is salt = sodium x 2.5.
In practise if a tin of baked beans has 0.5 grams of sodium per serving, this would equal 1.25 grams of salt (0.5 X 2.5 = 1.25).
So to answer the question - is sodium salt? No it is not, salt is only 40% sodium. Read your food labels carefully.
High Blood Pressure Causes 62% of all Strokes and 49% of all Heart Attacks... Check your BP on the blood pressure chart. If the chart shows you are in the prehypertension or hypertension ranges, do something about it, even if it is just having a chat with your doctor. The blood pressure chart is for all adults regardless of age, as whilst your age rises, the thresholds for prehypertension and hypertension don't! (there is no blood pressure chart by age!) No matter what your age - if your BP is above 140/90 you should set about lowering it. You can record and monitor your readings on our printable blood pressure log.