Use less salt and sugar

Salt

Our bodies need some salt to help maintain our balance of water (hydration). Also, table salt is fortified with iodine, which you need for good health.

Salt and pepper shakers

But in general, Canadians eat more salt than they need. Too much salt is linked to high blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease and stroke.

Much of the salt we eat comes from processed food such as breakfast cereals, soups, sauces, bread, ready-made meals and snack foods (where it can be listed as sodium). We also add salt to our food at the table or in cooking.

Salt and cancer risk

Research shows that eating too much salt and salty food may increase your risk of stomach cancer.

Spoonful of sugar

Sugar

Most Canadians eat too much sugar.

Sugars occur naturally in foods such as fruit, milk, honey and syrup. However, most of the sugar we eat has been added to food to make it taste sweet.

Sugar is added to many types of food, such as:

soft drinks and juice drinks
cookies, candy, cakes and pastries
jams and marmalades
ice cream

The ingredients list will tell you whether a food product is high in added sugar. If terms like sugar, glucose, honey, corn syrup, fructose, maltose or dextrose are listed, sugar has been added. If you see one of these near the top of the list, you know the product is high in added sugar.

Sugar and cancer risk

Foods and drinks with added sugar have lots of calories but usually contain few nutrients. Eating a lot of these sugary foods makes it easy to have more calories than you need, which means you are more likely to put on weight. Being overweight can put you at higher risk for certain cancers, so try to eat these foods less often.

Last modified on: 03 February 2010