Salt

I like salt.  I use it when I cook, and I often put it on food.  My husband on the other hand, is very careful about how much salt he uses.  He's concerned about using too much salt because he's afraid it's bad for his heart health.  He's right of course; too much sodium is a major contributor to high blood pressure.  Reducing blood pressure typically means a reduced risk of stroke and heart disease.  According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report¹, on average, the salt that we add when cooking or directly to a meal accounts only for 11% of sodium consumption.  Surprisingly, more than 75% of sodium consumption comes from consuming packaged foods and food in restaurants (12% of sodium occurs in natural sources).  My husband is over 51 so the recommendations say he should limit his sodium intake to 1,500 mg a day.  This is also true for African Americans, people with high blood pressure, diabetes or with chronic kidney disease.  US Dietary Guidelines recommend other adults should limit their intake to less than 2,300 mg per day.

Food manufacturers add sodium to extend shelf life, alter food texture, or for flavoring.  The biggest sources of sodium in the average diet might surprise you - they are: breads and rolls, cold cuts and cured meats, pizza, poultry, soups, sandwiches, cheese, pasta dishes, meat dishes and snacks.   So one third of the small the frozen pizza we had last night had 660 mg of sodium.  Shocking.   But delicious; deliciously deceptive.  These processed foods don't taste particularly salty to my palate but in fact they are major sources of sodium. I care about my health and I want my husband to be healthy, too. So what can we all do to limit sodium in our diets when it’s in so many of the foods that we eat?  

The CDC² recommends the following:

·  Choose to purchase healthy options and talk with your grocer or favorite restaurant about stocking lower sodium food choices

·  Read the Nutrition Facts label while shopping to find the lowest sodium option of your favorite foods

·  Eat a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables and frozen fruits and vegetables without sauce

·   Limit processed foods high in sodium

·  When eating out, request lower sodium options

·  Support initiatives that reduce sodium in foods in cafeterias and vending machines

1.       Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, CDC Grant Rounds:  Dietary Sodium Reduction – Time for Choice, from February 10, 2012, accessed 2/21/12 http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm6105a2.htm

2.       Vital Signs, Where’s the Sodium?  There’s too much in many common foods, February 2012, accessed 2/21/12 http://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/sodium/