February is Heart Month, a time when you may want to think about taking care of your
heart.

Reducing salt in your diet is one way to improve your heart health. Eating too much salt
(sodium) may cause high blood pressure. If you lower your blood pressure, you may
lower your risk of heart attack, heart failure and stroke.

The top sources of sodium in our diets include ready-made bread, crackers and muffins,
as well as takeout pizza and lasagna, and processed meats such as deli meat and
sausages. Cheese, soups and condiments such as soy sauce and ketchup are also
very high in salt. If you reduce the amount of processed, fast food, take-out food and
restaurant meals you eat, you may reduce the sodium in your diet.

Another way to lower sodium is to prepare food at home. When cooking at home, you
can use little or no salt. Try flavouring your food with garlic, onions, herbs, spices, lemon
juice and vinegar instead of salt.

Do you need some tips on cooking with less sodium?

The AHS South Health Campus Wellness Kitchen in Calgary will host Low Sodium Tasty Tips and Tricks, a free online
cooking demonstration. A registered dietitian will lead the two-part series, which will
include information on reading labels, lower sodium substitutions and preparing healthy
lower-sodium foods that still taste great. Anyone in Alberta is welcome to sign up.

To register, visit ahs.ca/shcwellness or email: wellness.shc@ahs.ca.

For more information on this topic, search “heart health” at ahs.ca/nutritionhandouts.