Top 5 tips to a Healthy Diet by reducing salt and sugar!

Pile of salt
With all the information available on how unhealthy the high amounts of salt and sugar in our diet is, it’s surprising so few change their eating habits to avoid serious health risks. I’m by all means no nutritionist, but I thought I’d share our top 5 five tips on how to regulate the intake and reduce salt and sugar in our diet.

Did you know, 1 gram of salt a day, with less for children, is essential for our health. But as soon as the amount exceeds 6 gram it becomes a health risk, and did you know the average person in the UK consumes approximately 8.1 gram of salt per day? Salt increases our blood pressure which again is the major factor which causes strokes, heart failure and heart attacks, the leading causes of death and disability in the UK.

Then there’s sugar. In the UK the NHS recommends 50g sugar for women, with the current average consumption being 72g a day. Sugar is addictive and can lead to long term health problems and increase everyone’s chances of serious disease such as type 2 diabetes.

So to get straight to the point. This is our best recommendation to eat healthier, our Top 5 tips to reduce salt and sugar

1. Avoid prepared foods.
Buy fresh ingredients, bake and cook from scratch. Knowing what you eat is number one to achieve a healthy and balanced diet. As afmily we enjoy everything from shopping to preparing the ingredients as much as we enjoy our meals together.
NorwegianSeafoodCouncil_PoachedSalmon_stewedVeg

2. 5 a day!
There’s sugar in fruit, so make 5 a day into 4 portions of vegetables and 1 fruit. And again, think fresh vegetables, not canned. Also, a glass of juice or a smoothie equals a piece of fruit.

3. Packed lunch instead of school dinners
It’s what you do on a daily basis that counts. And it doesn’t help much what you do at home if the lunch from Monday to Friday is saturated with sugar and fat. Unless you know the level of salt and sugar in the lunch -make packed lunch from home instead.

4. Saturday sweets
Just like in the olden days, reintroduce the concept of Saturday sweets. Not every day is a party. Cakes, muffins, chocolate and sweets can be limited to Saturdays only.

5. Drink water
Sugary or sweetened drinks is resulting in an overconsumption of sugar in an instant. This includes juices and smoothies! Water is free, refreshing and healthy.

As a added bonus you’ll probably ending up having more energy -and look healthier! We’d love to know your advise too, what steps you’ve taken to reduce salt and sugar. Please share by commenting below!

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