While sodium does not affect blood glucose levels, it can alter your blood pressure, an important consideration when you consider that heart disease is an increased risk when you have diabetes. The recommended intake of sodium for healthy adults is 2400 to 3000 mg per day, if you have already have high blood pressure, you probably need to consume far less than that. (In fact, your body only needs about 500 mg per day.)

Along with fat, salt makes food taste good. Therefore, be especially cautious with restaurant foods, which are usually very high in sodium. Don't be afraid to make some special requests.

Some additional ways to reduce the salt in your diet include:

• Fat and salt can be entirely left out of recipes for casseroles, soups, and stews
• Use herb blends to season foods instead of salt
• Salt can be reduced 25 to 50% in recipes for baked goods made without yeast
• Kosher salt and sea salt are better choices than table salt; it takes less kosher salt to equal the same "salty" taste and even less sea salt to achieve the same results. (Some people who experience elevated blood pressure when consuming table salt don't have that problem when using sea salt. As always, consult your dietician or doctor before introducing sea salt into your diet if you've been told to avoid salt altogether.)
• Dried kelp or seaweed can be ground in a coffee grinder (or with a Bamix Deluxe Handheld Blender with appropriate attachment) as a fine powder and used as a substitute for salt