Kara Ryan, Department of Public Heath
Kara Ryan is a Nutrition Education Specialist at DPH
Some of us were born with a sweet tooth. Others yearn for a salty crunch. No matter what your preference, sodium—otherwise knows as salt— is hard to avoid.
Sodium does have its benefits—it gives foods added flavor and it can act as a preservative in processed foods. Sodium does great things for our bodies as it helps to keep our fluids in check and keeps our muscles moving well. But too much sodium can do more harm than good.
The current recommendation for sodium is no more than 2,300 mg a day. That’s equal to 1 tsp of salt. It probably won’t surprise you to know that most adults eat 2 to 3 times this amount. While 2,300 mg may be thought of as the ‘standard’ recommendation, the advice for middle aged adults and anyone who may be at risk for high blood pressure is to eat no more than 1500 mg of sodium. That’s no more than 2/3 teaspoon of sodium each day for more than half of Americans!
All of us, no matter our health, our age or our family background, should watch our sodium intake. Rather than going full-throttle and limiting all sodium, start slowly. If you limit everything at once, it may be hard to stick with it.
Begin by cutting back on the use of the salt shaker. Instead of shaking salt on your dishes, try using herbs or spices, salt-free herb blends, lemon juice, or vinegar. If you are a salt lover, don’t worry, your taste for salty flavors will begin to dwindle.
Once you have mastered control of the salt shaker, start cooking your foods without adding salt. If a recipe calls for a teaspoon of salt, try using only half a teaspoon or replace salt with herbs and spices.
When buying snack foods, popcorn, crackers, soups, canned fish, canned vegetables and vegetable juices, make sure the label says, “low sodium,” “reduced sodium,” or “no-salt-added.”
Re-think fast food. You would be surprised by how much sodium is in fast food items! At 3 major fast food chains:
- The average cheeseburger has 800 mg sodium
- The average large French fry has 490 mg sodium
- The average 10 piece chicken nuggets has 1000 mg sodium
If you were to order a cheeseburger and large French fry, you have eaten over 80% of your salt intake for the day!
Do you have any tips on making food tasty without adding salt? We’d love to hear from you!
Thank you Kara for this crucial information. Some of us have no idea how much is contained in foods that we eat on regular basis. Thank you for putting it in perspective.
Posted by: Joyce Chania | April 16, 2009 at 02:08 PM