Food and medication
Salt and medication
Salt changes how much water your body keeps. Sudden changes in how much salt you eat matter for lithium, and a lot of salt works against blood pressure and heart medicines.
8 medicines on our checker are affected. Tap a medicine for every food and drink that matters with it.
Take care salt with these medicines
- ACE inhibitors · ramipril, lisinopril, perindopril
A lot of salt works against blood pressure control.
- Amlodipine · amlodipine, amlodipine besylate, Istin
A lot of salt works against blood pressure control.
- Bendroflumethiazide
Very strict low salt or low sodium diets can cause low levels of salts in your body while taking bendroflumethiazide.
Where this comes from
“Try to avoid very strict low salt or low sodium diets while you're taking bendroflumethiazide. This is because it can cause low levels of salts (or electrolytes) in your body.”
Information from the NHS website - Carvedilol
Too much salt raises blood pressure, which works against what carvedilol is doing for your heart.
Where this comes from
“Eating too much salt is the biggest cause of high blood pressure.”
Information from the NHS website - Corticosteroids · prednisolone, prednisone, dexamethasone
Steroids make you hold on to salt and water. Keep salty foods down.
- Lithium · priadel, camcolit, lithium carbonate
Lithium levels rise when you suddenly eat less salt and fall when you eat more. Keep your salt intake steady.
- Metoprolol
A lot of salt works against blood pressure treatment, so keep to 6g a day or less.
Where this comes from
“Eating too much salt is the biggest cause of high blood pressure.”
Information from the NHS website - Sotalol
Too much salt raises blood pressure. Aim for no more than 6g a day to help your heart condition.
Where this comes from
“Eating too much salt is the biggest cause of high blood pressure. The more salt you eat, the higher your blood pressure will be. Aim for no more than 6g of salt a day.”
Information from the NHS website
Foods and drinks that count as salt
- Salt
- Crisps
- Bacon
- Ham
- Sausages
- Stock cubes
- Gravy granules
- Ready meals
- Takeaways
- Pizza
- Salted nuts
- Tinned soup
- Smoked fish
- Olives
- Anchovies
- Processed meat
- Instant noodles
- Soluble tablets
- Bread
- Cheese
- Salted butter
- Pickles
- Ketchup
- Marmite
- Salami
- Salted popcorn
- Pretzels
- Cured meats
Common questions
- Which medicines does salt affect?
- 8 medicines on our checker: ACE inhibitors (take care), Amlodipine (take care), Bendroflumethiazide (take care), Carvedilol (take care), Corticosteroids (take care), Lithium (take care), Metoprolol (take care), Sotalol (take care).
- Which foods count as salt?
- Salt, Crisps, Bacon, Ham, Sausages, Stock cubes, Gravy granules, Ready meals, Takeaways, Pizza, Salted nuts, Tinned soup, Smoked fish, Olives, Anchovies, Processed meat, Instant noodles, Soluble tablets, Bread, Cheese, Salted butter, Pickles, Ketchup, Marmite, Salami, Salted popcorn, Pretzels, Cured meats.
General information from NHS medicine pages and drug labels, not medical advice. Always follow your prescriber, pharmacist or the leaflet with your medicine. How we check.