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While you’ve been busy managing your diabetes, there may be one ingredient in your diet that has not received the attention it deserves. This commonly neglected element is sodium.

Why does sodium matter? First, studies show a direct link between sodium and blood pressure levels. Simply stated, more sodium equals higher blood pressure. What’s more, high blood pressure can cause the very same complications as diabetes –heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and even blindness. Having both diabetes and high blood pressure compounds the risk even more.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 73 percent of people with diabetes have blood pressure levels above the recommended limit of 130 over 80 or are taking a blood pressure medication. Hence, attention to sodium is important for nearly all people with diabetes.

Sodium: How much is too much?
Most Americans eat more than twice the recommended amount of sodium on a daily basis. Healthy adults or people with diabetes who are not affected by high blood pressure should strive to keep daily sodium intakes below 2,400 milligrams. Although this is about the equivalent of one teaspoon of table salt, this daily amount not only includes sodium from the shaker, but also amounts from packaged or processed foods, the No. 1 contributors of sodium in the diet.

Even lower sodium intakes are suggested for certain groups who appear more susceptible to the effects of sodium such as the elderly, African-Americans and those with high blood pressure, kidney disease, and certain heart conditions. For these individuals, aiming for daily sodium intakes of fewer than 1,500 milligrams is ideal. Fortunately, as you reduce your sodium, your taste buds will also adjust and become accustomed to less.

How to cut back.
Since lowering your sodium intake can help you decrease your blood pressure levels, the key is to begin to identify and eliminate or reduce hidden sources of sodium in your diet. Awareness is the first step, so start by keeping a food journal and recording the amount of sodium from all meals and snacks. At the end of the day, add up your totals to see where you stand.

When locating sodium on labeled foods, always be sure to check the “serving size” and “servings per container” shown at the top of the food label. If you look at a can of green peas and the sodium is 400 mg, this is the amount per serving. Since one can contains 3 ½ servings, if you were to eat the whole can, you would have ingested 1,400 mg of sodium — nearly an entire day’s worth if you have high blood pressure.

Another effective way to lower sodium is to learn to use a wide variety of delicious herbs and spices to flavor your foods. To learn which foods match up best with which herbs and spices, see this list from the National Institute of Health.

Other useful tips for reducing sodium in your diet include:

1. Choosing fresh or frozen vegetables without added sauce
2. Preparing your own fresh poultry, fish or meat instead of opting for salty deli slices or canned products
3. Not adding salt while cooking. Rather, let family and friends add salt at the table
4. Rinsing canned products well to remove at least 25 percent of the sodium or choosing “no salt added” varieties of canned foods
5. Comparing products. There can be large variations in sodium content between brands and even between different flavors of the same product
6. Making your own flavorful, low-sodium dressing with extra virgin olive oil, spices, crushed garlic, and exotic vinegars
7. Using fewer packaged mixes, boxed kits, and bottled sauces or condiments, or buying low-sodium or salt-free versions of these foods

Though you may already be using other strategies for lowering your blood pressure such as weight loss, exercise, increased fruits and vegetables and limited alcohol, you can now take advantage of the additional blood pressure lowering effects of consuming less sodium.

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