Keep down salt intake - vegetarian lifestyle recipe book

Salt, or sodium chloride, is essential in very small amounts in our diet, but it is easy to eat far too much. The surplus salt has to be excreted by the kidneys. This makes the kidneys work harder and increases the risk of kidney failure.

Salt can also prevent uptake of calcium and lead to poor bone development in children.

The aim is to reduce your overall salt intake rather than change to a 'low salt' alternative.

Many preserved foods and pre-packaged meals have high levels of salt.