Eating healthy just isn’t easy to do these days. Read your labels carefully, we’re told. Look out for trans fats and refined sugars. Choose organic, free range or cage free. Just when I think I’ve mastered the technique of avoiding all the dietary gremlins, there is yet another making headlines.
In case you haven’t noticed, salt is cropping up as the demon of all demons. Yes, salt is killing us and making us fat, right along with all the other additives you find on those food labels. It’s a known fact that too much salt is bad for you. It raises your blood pressure and increases your risk of heart disease. But what’s a body to do when salt is in everything we eat, like it or not.
After reading more than one disturbing article on the dangers of too much salt, I decided to rummage around in my pantry to check the salt content in some of the items on the shelf. I wasn’t happy with what I found.
I have to say, I got A+ for heart healthy, no trans fats, fewer calories, reduced fat, even a soup with 1 point on the weight watcher’s scale. But sad to say the salt content in all these products was off the charts! Oops. Take a look at sodium content in these products from lowest to highest:
• Ruffles – Reduced fat potato chips – 0 trans fat – heart healthy oil – 180 mg salt (7%)
• Select Harvest – Campbell’s – 98% fat free – soup – 480 mg salt (20%)
• Gia Russa – Marinara Sauce – 560 mg salt (25%)
• Progresso - Light – Weight Watchers – 80 calories soup – 690 mg salt (29%)
• Swanson – Natural Chicken Broth – 99% fat free – no MSG – 860 mg salt (36 %)
• Zatarains’s New Orleans Yellow Rice – 930 mg (39%)
These readings are unsettling to say the least. Who would have guessed that potato chips would have the least amount of salt as compared to the rest of the group? By the way, this was purely a random selection so I cringe to think what else might be lurking in my cupboard.
Did you know that most Americans consume more than double the amount of salt that their bodies demand? This is one of the reasons that a report by the Institute of Medicine called for federal limits on sodium content in packaged and restaurant food. Although the FDA agrees there has to be some form of mandatory sodium regulation, they are not sure how and when it will happen.
There is strong evidence to support the health benefits of cutting back on salt intake. A computer-based analysis was conducted to determine the effects of a 3-g-per-day reduction in sodium on the rates of heart disease and death along with the money saved in health expenditures. The conclusion was mind-boggling.
“By cutting salt intake nationwide, the U.S. could save $10 billion in health care costs. The health benefits would be as good for the heart as cutting tobacco use by half, lowering one's body mass index 5% or taking statin medications to lower cholesterol. Even more surprising, cutting salt by 3 g per day was as effective in reducing death rates among people with hypertension as taking medication to control blood pressure.”1
“A study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), Stanford University and Columbia University shows that even a modest decrease in daily salt intake can lead to dramatic health benefits. The authors documented an annual drop of as many as 120,000 cases of heart disease, 66,000 instances of stroke and 99,000 heart attacks caused by high blood pressure after a 3-g-per-day reduction in sodium.” 2
The daily recommended amount of salt needed according to nutrition experts is 6 g. Compare this to what the average man usually consumes, 10.4 g and the average woman, 7.3 g and you can see that even a 3 g cut back would not be enough.
Many of my friends and people I know choose low sodium cold cuts, and do not add more salt to their meals. The point is our saltshakers are responsible for only about 11% of the sodium in our diet; the rest is tucked into all the rest of the things we eat. As much as we can do as individuals to limit our sodium intake, we can’t control outside sources from sabotaging our efforts.
The amount of salt most of us consume comes from processed and prepared foods, such as bakery items, cereals, dairy products, and canned goods much like those in my pantry. Just by eating a deli sandwich, loaded with meats and cheese, you can easily chalk up more than 3 g of salt especially if you throw in the chips and a pickle.
The reason there is so much salt in packaged, canned, and the restaurant food we eat is because it tastes so good. Have you ever tried eating a salt-less French fry, or anything without the addictive flavor of salt? Try it and you’ll know why salt is easy to overdo and hard to live without. What’s the alternative? Problem is there’s really no substitute for salt like there is for sugar.
The United Kingdom is leading the way in trying to reduce sodium intake by requiring their food makers to reduce sodium in some of their products by more than 40 %. Likewise, an initiative in the U.S. that started in New York City recently signed on 16 food companies, including Kraft, Heinz and Boar’s Head to follow in UK’s footsteps.
Until the Food and Drug Administration takes action to limit the amount of salt allowed by food makers, sodium will continue to be a silent killer for millions of Americans. “What's needed is a recognition that salt, like fat and trans fats, is not good for you. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration considers sodium to be "generally regarded as safe." 3
The bottom line is for people to be more aware of the amount of salt they are consuming, especially if you have high blood pressure or heart related conditions. Make health your priority by checking the sodium content in the foods you buy whether the food makers do it or not. Don’t let the addictive power of salt make a junkie out of you; just say “NO” to sodium overload!
Your Healthy Life Coach,
1 http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1955384,00.0html?iid=sphere-inline-sidebar#ixzz0rtCHE3tT
2 http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1955384,00.0html?iid=sphere-inline-sidebar#ixzz0rtWzk8uF
3 http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1955384,00.0html?iid=sphere-inline-sidebar#ixzz9rtSRPul9
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