Which Foods Are Lower in Salt?

When you have a craving for a salty food like those listed in the left column, try eating a less salty food from the column on the right instead. You'll learn to appreciate these new flavors, and you can feel good that you are helping your heart.

Salty Food	Less-Salty Substitution
Canned or pickled vegetables	Fresh or frozen vegetables, or low-sodium canned vegetables
Salted breads, crackers, bagels, or rolls	White, wheat, or rye breads; hard dinner rolls, matzo crackers, corn tortillas, pita bread, unsalted crackers or breadsticks
Cereal rings, nuggets, or flakes; instant hot cereals	Lower-sodium dry cereals, such as shredded wheat, puffed wheat, and rice cereals; hot cooked cereals without salt
Cured, smoked, or canned meat, fish, or poultry	Fresh or frozen meats or poultry, fresh-water fish (unbreaded), low-sodium canned tuna
Instant rice mixes	Homemade rice (unsalted)
Canned soups, dehydrated soups	Homemade soups with no salt added, low-sodium canned soups
Bottled salad dressings or salad dressings from a mix	Low-sodium salad dressings or dressings made at home with no added salt
Cookies	Animal crackers, fig bars, gingersnaps
Cake mixes, pudding mixes	Fruits and fruit juices, home-made puddings without salt
Chips	Air-popped popcorn without salt or butter
Cheeses	Low-sodium cheeses