HEALTH: Top tips to reduce the amount of sugar and salt in your diet

The population are currently consuming more salt than the recommended 6g per day. Too much salt in the diet has links to some scary things, like heart disease and high blood pressure. For this reason, Aldi has been gradually reducing the level of salt in many of their own label products, whilst ensuring products are of the highest quality and still taste great.

Eating too much sugar can increase your risk of tooth decay, weight gain, heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and even some cancers. It’s a problem Aldi is passionate about tackling as its customers health and wellbeing is of utmost importance.

Eating well is important and in recognition of this, Aldi is committed to having 70% of food sales coming from healthier items by 2025.

Here are some top tips to reduce salt and sugar from your diet:

Salt:

• Eat fresh foods – Most of the sodium we eat comes from restaurant meals and processed foods, including canned vegetables and soups, pasta sauces, lunch meats, and snack foods. If you start with unsalted, fresh foods and prepare them yourself, you can exercise better control over your sodium intake.
• Take care with condiments – Sodium is found in many condiments besides ordinary table salt—including soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, salad dressings, ketchup, seasoned salts, pickles, and olives. Baking soda, baking powder, and monosodium glutamate (MSG) also contain sodium.
• Read labels – The Nutrition Facts label on packaged food lists milligrams of sodium per serving, so it's important to note how many servings the container holds.
• Dining out – When dining out, ask to have your food prepared with less salt.
  Spices – Cut back on salt by using more herbs and spices like basil, coriander, cumin, cayenne, powdered mustard, oregano, rosemary, sage, thyme, and turmeric.
   

Sugar:

• Give your taste buds time to adjust – If you're in the habit of having two spoonfuls of sugar in your coffee or tea, for instance, start by going to one-and-a-half for a week, then down to one.
• Adapt your recipes – You can make your favourite recipes less sugary by reducing a little bit at a time—try using one-quarter less sugar than the recipe calls for, then one-third—right up until you notice the difference.
• Check your cereal box – If you enjoy cold cereal or instant porridge for breakfast, look at the labels and choose one with minimal added sugar. To wean yourself off your favourite cereal, try combining it with a whole-grain, high-fibre cereal, and add fruit.

Here is a great recipe from Aldi showing how tiny tweaks can help to make a big difference in reducing your sugar levels!

Marmalade Pork Chops – Swap regular marmalade for Gráinne’s Low Sugar Irish Seville Marmalade

Serves: 2 people

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Recipe:

Ingredients:

2 Butcher’s Selection Irish Boneless Pork Chops
2 tbsp Gráinne’s Low Sugar Irish Seville Marmalade
70ml Asia Specialties Soy Sauce
1 Clove of Nature’s Pick Garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2 Egan’s Carrots, peeled and chopped
1 Egan’s Parsnip, peeled and chopped
250g Egan’s Baby Potatoes, halved
 

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
In an ovenproof dish add marmalade, soy sauce and garlic.
Mix with a fork, breaking down the marmalade.
Add raw pork chops to this and spoon the marinade over the chops, so that they are well covered.
You can leave overnight in the fridge for added flavour.
Cover with foil and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes until cooked through.
Steam the vegetables and potatoes.
Remove the pork chops from the oven and serve with the vegetables.
 

*The Food Safety Authority of Ireland, 2020