Healthy eating for people with COPD

Many people have too much salt in their diet. Salt can raise blood pressure and this increases the risk for stroke and heart disease. The recommended daily amount for adults is 6 grammes or less (the equivalent of 1 teaspoon a day). Salt can easily be hidden in processed foods, bread, breakfast cereal and ready meals. Check food labels when you are shopping. The small print on packaging can be difficult to read.

For more information please read the Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland factsheet: Salt [.pdf].

Alternative flavourings to salt;

• Pepper, mustard, onions, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice.
• Herbs (e.g. mint, parsley, basil, bay leaves).
• Spices (e.g. curry powder, chilli, nutmeg, paprika and ginger).

Consider:

Fish	Beef	Lamb	Pork	Chicken
Bay leaf dill lemon tarragon	Mustard powder tomatoes	Rosemary oregano basil mint cumin chilli	Apple sage thyme coriander lime orange	Lemon marjoram tarragon garlic ginger
Potatoes	Rice	Tomatoes	Peas	Pasta
Paprika nutmeg parsley pepper	Coriander saffron onion	Basil marjoram oregano	Mint parsley	Garlic basil pepper tomato

For more information on daily salt, sugar and fat levels:

• Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland – Food label traffic lights [.pdf]