Sodium in Your Food - Risks and Remedies

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In a previous post, I said I log my food intake (see Comparison of Food and Exercise Logging Sites). It didn’t take long to notice my sodium intake was above recommended values. I was surprised. I thought my diet was healthy.

How much sodium is recommended?

The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend limiting sodium to less than 2,300 mg a day or 1,500 mg if you're age 51 or older, or if you are black, or if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.  

What impact does too much sodium have?

It’s not only your blood pressure that’s at risk. According to American Bone Health, excess sodium in the diet can result in bone loss (see explanation).  The National Institute of Health points to a limited study that showed that salt intake was responsible for a significant change in bone calcium balance, from positive to negative, as salt intake is increased (Sodium and Bone Health). Another side effect of too much salt is swelling of the extremities and possibly fluid retention around the heart.

Steps to reduce sodium

Monitor your sodium for a week. Even if you don’t want to log all the food you eat, keep a small notebook or card with you. Write down the sodium content of the foods you eat each day and total it.  You might be surprised how much sodium you are getting.  I certainly was.  Once you know if you are getting too much sodium, you can decide the best way to reduce it.

Check the label. A CDC study found that 80% of the average American’s sodium intake comes from packaged and restaurant foods. That’s why it’s so important to read the label. And when a restaurant provides nutritional information, look at it.  You may be surprised how much sodium some of the foods contain. Many of the soups at one hamburger chain contained more sodium than the daily allowance for persons over 51 or those who are hypertensive, and over ½ that allowed for everyone else.

I’ve noticed even some products labeled low sodium can have fairly high sodium. One brands’s low sodium black beans actually had as much sodium as the organic brand which was not labeled low sodium.

Avoid foods that are high in sodium. The biggest culprits are:

·         Soups

·         Packaged and Restaurant foods

·         Soy sauce, salad dressings

·         Salami, bacon, cured meats

·         Sun dried tomatoes

·         Cheese

·         Snack foods – chips, pretzels, popcorn)

·         Frozen dinners

·         Canned foods

Don’t add salt during cooking. It’s not necessary to add salt to boiling water for pasta (read the explanation for this myth). Also, studies have shown that you use less salt if you sprinkle it on the food after it’s cooked than adding salt to the dish while it’s cooking.  And of course, follow the rule, “don’t salt food until you’ve tasted it.”

Make Simple Swaps. Take one higher sodium food in your diet and replace it with a food that has low sodium. I replaced my veggie burger (350mg sodium) with natural peanut butter (only 90 mg sodium). That saved me 260mg of sodium a day. If you love soups, make your own (see Allrecipies.com Low-Sodium Soups).  

Become vocal. OK. You might not want to go this far, but the more people complain about the sodium in their food, the more likely manufactures will be to reduce sodium.  It can be very easy. I sent an email to the  burger chain with high sodium soups. I was particularly troubled because the listed it as a healthy choice (probably based on calories alone). I did get a response that they were working on trying to reduce the sodium.

Other tips for reducing sodium can be found at:

• National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Your Guide to Lowering High Blood Pressure, Reduce Salt and Sodium in Your Diet
• Mayoclinic.com  Sodium: How to tame your salt habit now