• Nine Tips To Reduce Salt In Your Diet
• Salt Substitutes

1. Buy fresh, frozen or canned "no salt added" vegetables.
2. Use fresh poultry, fish and lean meat, rather than canned or processed types.
3. Use herbs, spices and salt-free seasoning blends in cooking and at the table.
4. Cook rice, pasta and hot cereals without salt. Cut back on instant or flavored rice, pasta and cereal mixes.
5. Choose convenience foods that are lower in sodium. Cut back on frozen dinners, packaged mixes, canned soups or broths and salad dressings.
6. Rinse canned foods, such as tuna, to remove some sodium.
7. When available, buy foods labeled "low sodium," "reduced sodium" or "no salt added."
8. Choose breakfast cereals that are low in sodium.
9. Snack on fruits and vegetables instead of chips.

Adventurous cooks often rely on herbs and spices to increase flavor while cutting down on sodium. For more timid souls, the answer may be ready-made saltless mixtures, such as Spike and Mrs. Dash.

Another option is "lite" salt, which substitutes potassium chloride for about half the sodium chloride found in regular salt. Many doctors advise patients with high blood pressure to switch to this type of salt. It helps in cutting back on sodium, and also helps to replace potassium, which is washed out of the body by some diuretic medications prescribed to treat high blood pressure. However, lite salt contains too much sodium for many people who have been advised to limit their salt intake. One-fourth of a teaspoon of lite salt contains 244 milligrams of sodium. Moreover, some people tend to use more of this salt at the table to compensate for its light taste. Lite salt is not recommended for use in cooking because potassium chloride gives food a bitter taste when heated to high temperatures. Also, lite salt can be dangerous for people with kidney disease, because potassium levels may build up in them to dangerous levels.