Guideline No. 5
Limit Salt, Alcohol and Caffeine

This guideline advises a moderate intake of salt, alcohol and caffeine because it is not healthy to use any of these substances in excess.

Salt

Salt is a major source of sodium, a mineral linked to high blood pressure in some people. There is also some evidence linking very high intakes of salt with stomach cancer. However, this finding relates mostly to people who eat a lot of salt preserved foods such as salted cod or port. It is unlikely that the typical slat intake of the average Canadian is a risk factor for stomach cancer. For all round good health consider these tips for keeping your slat intake in check:

use pepper , hot pepper sauces, flavored vinegars, herbs and spices to flavor foods instead of reaching for the slat shaker. (Salt substitutes aren't necessary and shouldn't be used with your doctor's knowledge)

remove the salt shaker from the table but leave the pepper handy for a touch of last-minute flavor.

either cut out or halve the amount of salt called for in recipes

cook from scratch as much as possible. Convenience items... casserole and dinner helper mixes, rice mixes, many frozen meals and entrees are typically high in salt

avoid eating a lot of salty snack foods an crackers with salted tops

avoid eating frequently at fast food restaurants. The food is notoriously high in salt, even the items that are fat and calorie reduced

Next: Facts about Alcohol

Next: Facts about Caffeine

Info obtained from the Healthy Eating published by the Canadian Cancer Society