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Less salt, better sleep?

We have long been told to cut back on salt to reduce blood pressure. That’s old hat. (But one worth wearing). Now we learn that a low salt diet can also help us sleep better! In a roundabout way. Japanese researchers have shown that cutting back on salt can reduce those annoying nighttime trips to the bathroom that become more and more frequent with age.

We have long been told to cut back on salt to reduce blood pressure. That’s old hat. (But one worth wearing).Ìý Now we learn that a low salt diet can also help us sleep better! In a roundabout way. Japanese researchers have shown that cutting back on salt can reduce those annoying nighttime trips to the bathroom that become more and more frequent with age. Actually, they are more than just annoying because interference with sleep is stressful and can cause daytime irritability and fatigue.

The researchers enlisted over 300 subjects, all of whom had sleeping problems. They also had very high salt intake, averaging about 11 grams of salt a day. That is almost double the usual recommended maximum of 6 grams a day, which according to many researchers is probably too high for most of the population who should consume no more than 4 grams. The Japanese subjects who were told to reduce their salt intake managed to drop it to 8 grams a day, not a huge drop but one that resulted in decreasing the nighttime trips from an average of 2.3 to 1.4. In the control group, the salt intake actually went up and so did the trips to the bathroom. And remember that 8 grams a day is still way too much salt.

If you are interested in cutting back on salt, the target figure should be in the ballpark of 3.75 grams of salt a day. That’s about half a teaspoon and contains 1.5 grams of sodium. The conversion factor to go from salt to sodium is 2.5. Divide the amount of salt by 2.5 and you’ll get the amount of sodium. To go from sodium to salt, multiply by 2.5.

Cutting back on salt is not easy because only about 10% of our intake comes from the salt shaker, the rest from processed foods. Most people know that canned soups, canned vegetables, processed sauces and processed meats are high in salt. A cup of chicken soup can contain as much as 4.5 grams of salt. But they may not realize that the bread they use to make that cold cut sandwich also can contain up to 1 gram of salt. Dough is made with a lot of salt and that unfortunately includes pizza and all the pastas.

It pays to try to keep salt intake below 4 grams a day in more ways than one. Not only can it reduce blood pressure which may make for more nights in a lifetime, it can make those nights more comfortable.

It is worthwhile to look through the following list of foods and their sodium content. Remember that the ideal target is about 1500 mg a day. A couple of strips of bacon, especially turkey bacon, will put you over that. Restaurant foods are not included here, but note that a Big Mac has 950 mg sodium and two slices of pizza, depending on toppings will have 1000-2000 mg. As you can see, keeping sodium intake around 1500 mg is quite a challenge.Ìý

Ìý

FOOD SERVING SIZE SODIUM mg
VEGETABLES AND FRUIT

Fresh and most frozen vegetables contain very little sodium.

Ìý

Peppers (jalapeno, hot chilli), canned/bottled

30 mL (2 Tbsp)

843-1201

Tomato sauce (plain or with vegetables), canned/bottled

125 mL (1/2 cup)

585-721

Sauerkraut, canned/bottled

125 mL (1/2 cup)

496

Pickles (sour, dill)

1 small

299-447

Vegetables, all varieties, canned

125 mL (1/2 cup)

245-439

Tomato juice and vegetable cocktail

125 mL (1/2 cup)

226-325

Stewed tomatoes, canned

125 mL (1/2 cup)

298
Olives, canned 4 olives 463
Pizza sauce

125 mL (1/2 cup)

246

Grain Products

Grains such as rice, barley, quinoa, oats and wheat are low in sodium.

Ìý
Cereal Ìý Ìý

Cream of wheat, all types, cooked

175 mL (3/4 cup)

370

Breakfast cereal, dry, all varieties

175 mL (3/4 cup)

216-240

Other Grain Products Ìý Ìý

Crackers, all varieties, salted

30g

192-282

Brad roll (rye, french) 1 roll (35g) 234-258
Bread, all types 1 slice (35g) 182-211
Muffin (carrot, blueberry, chocolate chip) 1 small (66g) 203-232
Bagel, all varieties 1/2 bagel (45g) 222-310
MILK AND ALTERNATIVES Ìý Ìý
Buttermilk 250 mL (1 cup) 272-492
Cheese Ìý Ìý
Cottage cheese (1%, 2%)

250 mL (1 cup)

736-970
Blue

50 g (1 ½ oz)

573-904
Processed cheese slices (cheddar, Swiss)

50 g (1 ½ oz)

711-960
Feta

50 g (1 ½ oz)

458
Cheese spread 30 mL (2 tbsp) 633

Cheddar, colby, edam, gouda, mozzarella, provolone, camembert

50 g (1 ½ oz)

302-438
Cottage cheese, fat freeÌý

250 mL (1 cup

570
MEAT AND ALTERNATIVES

Fresh and unprocessed frozen meat, poultry and fish contain very little sodium. Bagged dried peas, beans and lentils contain little sodium

Ìý
Meat

75 g (2 ½ oz)

Ìý

Bacon, cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

1247-1920

Bacon (back bacon/peameal, English style bacon), cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

1152
Ham, cured, cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

621-1125

Ìý

Beef jerky

75 g (2 ½ oz)

976
Corned beef, canned

75 g (2 ½ oz)

668
Ham, reduced sodium, cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

727
Poultry Ìý Ìý
Turkey bacon

75 g (2 ½ oz)

1714
Turkey, smoked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

747

Chicken/turkey, rotisserie/ready to serve, barbequed

75 g (2 ½ oz)

350-540
Chicken nuggets or burger, cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

334-418
Meat Products

Ìý

Ìý

Salami or pepperoni, all varieties

75 g (2 ½ oz)

702-1418
Ham or chicken, canned

75 g (2 ½ oz)

774-1064

Luncheon/deli meat, all varieties

75 g (2 ½ oz), 3 slices

937-939

Wiener, frankfurter, all varieties, cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

528-971

Chorizo (beef, pork)

75 g (2 ½ oz)

542

Sausage, all varieties, cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

643-733

Luncheon/deli meat (pork, chicken), reduced sodium

75 g (2 ½ oz)

781

Salami or bologna, all varieties, reduced sodium

75 g (2 ½ oz)

446-702

Ham, honey, cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

675

Liverwurst

75 g (2 ½ oz)

525-645

Pate, canned

75 g (2 ½ oz)

290-605

Blood sausage/blood pudding, cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

510

Sausage, all varieties,Ìý reduced sodium, cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

441

Wiener, frankfurter, all varieties, reduced sodium, cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

233
Fish and Seafood Ìý Ìý

Mackerel or cod, salted

75 g (2 ½ oz)

1353-5292

Anchovies, canned

75 g (2 ½ oz)

2756

Fish, all varieties, smoked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

502-771

Herring, pickled or kippered

75 g (2 ½ oz)

652-688

Shellfish (crab, shrimp, calamari, oyster, lobster, mussels), canned or cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

124-652

Caviar (red, black)

15 ml (1 c. à thé)

243
Fish sticks, cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

299

Fish (sardines, salmon, tuna, mackerel), canned

75 g (2 ½ oz)

185-312
Meat Alternatives Ìý Ìý

Meatless (bacon, bacon bits), cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

1099-1337

Baked beans, all varieties, canned

175 mL (3/4 cup)

644-935

Refried beans, canned

175 mL (3/4 cup)

690-770

Meatless (sausage, chicken, meatballs, fish sticks, wiener, luncheon slices), cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

353-666

Legumes (dried beans, pea, lentil), canned all varieties

175 mL (3/4 cup)

489-638

Vegetarian meatloaf or patty, cooked

75 g (2 ½ oz)

413

Pumpkin or squash seeds, salted, without shell

60 mL (1/4 cup)

412

Nuts (peanuts, almonds, cashews), salted, without shell

60 mL (1/4 cup)

152-282

Egg substitute

125 mL (1/2 cup)

264
OTHER Ìý Ìý

Salt (table, Kosher, pickling, sea)

5 mL (1 tsp)

1720-2373
Salt, seasoned

5 mL (1 tsp)

1550

Yeast extract spread

2 Tbsp (30 g)

1088
Soy sauce

15 mL (1 Tbsp)

899-1244
Salt substitute, Cardia

5 mL (1 tsp)

1080
Salt substitute, Half salt

5 mL (1 tsp)

800
Sauce, teriyaki

15 mL (1 Tbsp)

700
Soy sauce, reduced sodium

15 mL (1 Tbsp)

656
Sauce (cheese, nacho cheese)

60 mL (1/4 cup)

499-900
Oyster sauce

15 mL (1 Tbsp)

499
Salsa, all varieties

60 mL (1/4 cup)

365

Sauce (steak, barbecue)

30 mL (2 Tbsp)

326-348
Ketchup, yellow mustard or relish

30 mL (2 Tbsp)

376-348
Sauce, teriyaki, reduced sodium

15 mL (1 Tbsp)

325
Capers, canned

15 mL (1 Tbsp)

205
SNACKS Ìý Ìý

Pretzels (soft, hard)

1 small or 50 g

388-620
Cheese puffs

50 g

430-470

Popcorn, flavoured or plain microwave packaged?

50 g

288-433

Popcorn, flavoured, reduced sodium

50 g

245

Corn nuts, all varieties

50 g

282-300

Chips (tortilla, vegetable, potato, soy), all varieties

50 g

233-499

Ìý

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