Get The Skinny on Salt

Do you know how much salt you eat every day? If you're like most people, the answer is probably no. While it's automatic for us to read food labels for calorie and fat content (maybe even fiber!), we pay little attention to that word "sodium" (that's the dietary term for salt) on the label.

We did a segment recently to raise awareness of why it's time for a wake-up call -- because adjusting your salt intake to 2500 mg or less can have a major impact on your health. Many of us are eating diets with 4000-8000 mg of sodium every day. A high salt diet can raise raise blood pressure, often leading to an increase in the rate of heart attack and strokes. If you're "salt sensitive", you can be at particular risk. If you are over age 50, African American, have diabetes, are borderline hypertensive or already have high blood pressure or have kidney disease, you should pay close attention.

The good news: there are four simple and painless ways to lower your daily sodium intake to 2500 mg or less...

(1) read food labels for sodium content - food doesn't have to taste salty to have a lot of salt;
(2) cut down on consumption of processed foods and condiments;
(3) look for low and reduced sodium products;
(4) lose the salt shaker and season with herbs and other salt-free seasonings.

If these four steps sound like a challenge to you right now, keep reading to learn more about the "how-to" of lowering your salt intake.

Actually, our bodies do need some salt for normal function: (1) to maintain normal body fluid balance, (2) to help transmit nerve signals throughout the brain and nervous system, and (3) to help muscle contraction and relaxation. The requirement is small - only 500 mg (less than a bowl of soup, or a tablespoon of soy sauce!), which is about a teaspoon. Guidelines for daily sodium intake are set at at a maximum of 2500 mg per day. The four points of label reading, reducing processed foods and condiments, seeking reduced sodium foods, and replacing the salt shaker will go a long way towards helping you meet your goals.

Label reading is the number of way to lower your salt intake. In fact, our segment featured a nurse (and wife and mother), who read labels for other things, but had no idea of her salt intake. Her daily sodium intake was over 7000 mg in a day - almost three times more than the daily limit.

So, where is all of this salt coming from? About three quarters of our salt intake comes from (1) processed and prepared foods,; (2) sodium rich condiments; and (3) foods naturally containing sodium (beef, chicken, milk - about 100 mg/serving). Only about 10% comes from the salt shaker. All the hidden salt in foods are the biggest culprits - particularly canned soups, and boxed, processed foods (think rice and noodle mixes, macaroni and cheese). A microwaveable soup has about 800 mg per serving - with two servings per container (but we all eat the whole bowl), that's 1600 mg - more than half of the daily intake. Condiments like soy sauce have nearly 800 mg per tablespoon. So while we're all familiar with pickles and sauerkraut - no brainers to cut back because they taste so salty - the label reading is a must for products from cereals to breads to condiments, to deli meats to be an informed consumer. And know what these labels mean:

Sodium/salt free: less than 5 mg per serving --very low sodium --35 mg or less per serving
Low-sodium: 140 mg or less per serving --light in sodium -- 50% less sodium compared with the standard food

Remember that our taste for salt is learned. It's hard to un-learn, but if you give yourself about 3 weeks to gradually cut back on your salt intake from all sources, you'll find that you can readily cut your salt intake back, often by more than half. It's not important to be perfect, but making the effort to cut back on the sodium, substituting other herbs and seasonings (think garlic powder, not garlic salt) and seeking out low-sodium products will go a long way. One more thing - the newer "gourmet" sea salts are more flavorful and exotic, but have the same salt content as the big box at the supermarket. You might use less of the sea salts, because of the more intense flavor, but it's not a more healthful salt.

Be careful when choosing "lite" salts as they often contain potassium, another salt that the body needs, and also balances carefully. For certain medical conditions and medications, extra potassium may not be advisable - check with your doctor for more details on this, and to find out if you are in a "salt sensitive" category.

Comments

I am a vegetarian and have substituted soy sauce and table salt with Bragg's amino acids and have found it tastes better and has significantly less sodium. Am also eating more cucumbers and celery for kidney function.

Where can I find the product you're talking about that you use to replace salt?

I am female and crave sodium toward the end of my cycle. I crave it like a drug (I would guess!). I often take in more than 8,000 milligrams per day. My bloodwork is great and blood pressure is very, very low. I just crave it and seek it out. I drink bottles of tomato juice at a time and look for the brand with the high sodium on\the label! Why do I crave it so?