Q for UK ladies re salt and sodium

[Tammy123]

Hi I'm confused about whether to count the salt or sodium in food. The label always lists amount of sodium and then says 'of which salt is x amount'. Don't understand what this means and as there is quite a big diff in the numbers, i just wondered which one it is that I should be counting? Thanks

[Dreamofpink]

It took me a while to figure this one out too. Ignore the salt and just look at the sodium on the packaging. I equate 1000mg of sodium (the upper recommended limit on the LE diet) to 1.0g of sodium as it's shown differently on UK packaging. it is quite surprising how quick it mounts up over the course of a day! BTW I eat quite a lot of Weight Watcher's food just for convenience and on some things like the pasta sauce they don't list sodium only salt, so I try and find something else with the same level of salt as that item per 100g and use that as a reference as I'm too lazy to figure out the maths to calculate it myself
Don't stress TOO much about sodium though, it is one of the least important parts of the LE diet - much more important to stick to cals, fat and protein. HTH!

[GeCon]

To convert salt to sodium: divide by 2.5.
To convert sodium to salt: multiply by 2.5.

E.g.:
1g salt = 0.4g sodium (400mg)
0.8g sodium = 2g salt (2000mg)

[Tammy123]

Ok good. So ignore the salt and follow the sodium. And if it only lists salt, then divide that number by 2.5 and use that number. That's good cos I was just thinking if we have to follow the salt then it seriously adds up quick!! Thank you