All congestive heart failure patients should limit salt intake to 1,000-1,500 mg of sodium per day. One teaspoon of salt contains about 2,300 mg of sodium.

Tips on how to reduce your salt consumption:

• Avoid cooking with salt.
• Avoid fast food.
• Avoid salty foods, such as pickles, cured meats, salty snacks, and canned soup.
• Avoid seasonings that contain sodium, such as soy sauce, steak sauce, garlic and onion salt, and monosodium glutamate.
• Do not add salt to your food at the dinner table.
• Read food labels and buy foods that are low in salt.
• When eating out, ask that your food be prepared without added salt.