Type 2 diabetes: Five easy ways to lower the amount of salt in your diet
TYPE 2 diabetes sufferers should limit the amount of sugar they eat, but it’s also important to keep salt and fat to a minimum too. Follow these five easy ways to cut down on salt.
Type 2 diabetes: Dr Mosley gives his dietary tips
Type 2 diabetes is a condition where the level of sugar in the blood becomes to high.
It is a lifelong condition and there is no cure, but it can be controlled by taking medication and ensuring a healthy diet.
It’s important to control diabetes, as it can lead to various complications.
Problems associated with type 2 diabetes include heart disease, stroke, nerve damage, foot problems, vision loss and blindness, miscarriage and stillbirth, and kidney problems.
Try cooking more meals from scratch at home, where you can control the amount of salt you use
Diabetic people don’t have to completely cut out sugar, fat and salt from their diet, but they should limit the amount they consume.
These five steps will help to cut down the amount of salt in your diet.
Remove the salt shaker from the table
Simply removing salt from the table will stop you from instinctively reaching out for it and unnecessarily adding it to your food.
Leave the black pepper grinder on the table and use that instead.
Gradually lower the amount of salt used in cooking
Use a teaspoon to measure added salt when cooking, and use less and less as time goes on.
Do this gradually and the difference will barely be evident.
Season food with herbs and spices
Replace salt as a seasoning with herbs and spices, such as ginger, lime and coriander in stir-fries.
Flavour salads with healthier alternatives
Use lemon juice, chilli powder and pepper to flavour salads, instead of salt.
Make home-made chutney and marinade
Make home-made chutney using coriander leaves, fresh mint, green chillies and lime juice.
Home-made marinades can be made with chilli powder, paprika powder, low-fat plain yogurt, garlic, ginger and tomato puree.
“Try cooking more meals from scratch at home, where you can control the amount of salt you use – when there are so many delicious spices in your kitchen, you really can enjoy your favourite recipes with less salt,” said Diabetes UK.