We all have heard our fare share of the dangers of excess calories, saturated fats, trans fats and sugar but there’s a new kid on the block that has been overlooked for far too long and that kid is sodium. This article will make you more alert and aware of the dangers of eating too much salt and what you can do to keep sodium intake to a healthy minimum.
The taste benefits of sodium.
- It makes sweet foods taste sweeter.
- Increases the aroma of food
- Decreases bitterness
- Brings out the flavor of food.
The dangers of salt are it significantly increases your chances of heart attack and stroke if over consumed and it can also cause you to gain weight and look bloated from water retention. The newest dietary guidelines say that the average person should not exceed 2300mg of salt per day which is about a teaspoon worth and if you’re over the age of 50 your chance of heart attack or stroke drastically increases, so your salt intake should be reduced to 1500mg or less per day.
The problem for most of us is that we’re eating more than twice the daily allowed serving of salt per day and in some cases, we exceed that serving size in a single meal. Even if you never pick up a salt shaker there’s a good chance you’re eating far too much salt if you eat a lot of processed and packaged meals.
Examples of processed food high in salt.
- Processes cheeses
- Lunch meets
- Condiments
- Snack Foods
- Canned Soups
Don’t rely on taste when detecting sodium content because many processed foods containing high levels of salt don’t taste salty at all. Some examples are certain brands of cottage cheese which can contain more salt than potato chips, bagels and cereals. If you love to eat out at restaurants, then you face double trouble because restaurant chefs are very handy with a salt shaker and portion sizes are ridiculously large. If you love to eat out at BBQ joints, a serving of baby back ribs can contain more than twice your daily serving of salt.
Some tips to help reduce your salt intake.
Eat Less processed Foods – When you know how to cook you can directly control the amount of salt and sodium that goes in food. Just be careful when using certain sauces like soy sauce and teriyaki sauce. When cooking at home you can experiment with many strong flavored herbs, spices, lemon juice, garlic and onions to increase flavor instead of using salt.
Do most or all your shopping on the perimeter of the store. This is the area you will find fresh produce, meats and other natural foods in their natural unprocessed state free from chemicals. It’s popular in the fitness circle to use the term “Lean, Green and Marine” so that your avoiding salt, preservatives, trans fats and other hard to pronounce manmade ingredients.
Some comparisons
Natural roasted turkey breast contains only 15 mg of sodium per ounce while processed turkey lunch meat contains more than 20 times that amount. All-natural rolled oats contain absolutely no sodium at all while most brands of instant oats contain 250 mg sodium per serving.
There are health benefits eating salt, in facts, a life of food without salt is unthinkable. In fact a lack of salt can cause hyponatremia which can make it harder to think, cause headaches and poor balance. This is a very rare condition so instead of trying to eliminate sodium, you must manage the amount of salt you consume. It’s the classic case of too much of a good thing can be a very bad thing. Being aware and knowing about it is a great start to better health and a slimmer waistline.
