Not by choice, my husband has just been put on a low sodium diet.
Coincidentally, I had just heard someone on NPR doing an interview about the hazards of salt and what to do about it.
The things that stood out for me are:
- Only 5% of salt consumption comes from the salt shaker on the table.
- Only 6% of salt consumption comes from salt you add when cooking.
- 89% of salt consumption comes from the processed foods we eat.
I couldn't find link to that interview. Sorry.
The first thing we did when we arrived home from the hospital was to empty the pantry of any cans or "boxes" that contained more than 200mg.
of salt per serving. My pantry is bare! Took all those cans to the food bank and I'm feeling guilty as heck for giving the needy amongst us food that we won't touch.
http://www.npr.org/...
So, why should you care?
Let's put it this way, if everyone in the country ate just a half-teaspoon less salt each day, it would save the lives of between 44,000 and 92,000 people a year. The prediction comes from an analysis just published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Eating a lot of salt raises the risks for high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Sodium one of two elements that make up table salt is the bad actor.
Americans consume far more than they need. The government recommends limiting salt intake to 5.8 grams a day, or about 1 1/2 teaspoons. But the average American gets about 10.4 grams of salt a day; women consume about 7.3 grams a day.
http://www.npr.org/...
As of today, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene is asking the food industry to voluntarily reduce the amount of salt in packaged and restaurant foods.
The department cites research that the high sodium content of American diets comes largely from these food sources, and not our salt shakers.
Let's look at some examples of sodium in typical foods we eat:
Tomato sauce: 1/4 cup = 280 mg. sodium
Lipton onion mushroom soup mix: 1 2/3 tbsps. = 700 mg. sodium
3 oz. crab = 619 mg. sodium
1/2 cup diced tomatoes (Hunt's) = 340 mg. sodium
processed cheese spread = 490 mg. sodium
Cheerios, Honey Nut, 1 cup = 269 mg. sodium
whole wheat English Muffin = 490
plain bagel (3.9 oz.) = 700 mg. sodium
baking soda (1 tsp.) = 1259 mg. sodium
A great site for checking sodium levels of food:
http://www.npr.org/...
The best site I've found for checking the sodium levels of food and beverages:
http://www.alsosalt.com/...
Oh, I haven't mentioned yet, I've lost 4 pounds since joining my husband on this low salt endeavor. Those damn fruits, vegetables and even potatoes are great for weight loss when flavored with spices, not salted.
Who knew?
For a great diary on the history of salt and Miscellaneous facts read
Patric Juillet's diary: http://www.dailykos.com/...
An excerpt from Patric's diary:
A warning note: high sodium intake can push up your blood pressure and increase your risk of heart disease and stroke as proper kidney function is required to eliminate salt from the body: a decrease in productivity can have dire consequences.
The average body needs about 2 grams of salt a day (which breaks down into sodium and chloride in your body). Athletes need more because of the excess lost in sweating. Sadly, most Americans consume about 3 times what they really need as the bulk of sodium that is introduced to the body can be easily traced to the packaged and processed foods that we buy and consume. That is why it is important to read food product labels, and review the sodium content of each and every item that you are buying.