January 25, 2010 in Wellness by empoweringwellness

Hold the Salt!

In a report published last week by the University of California, San Francisco, researchers found that shaving 3 grams off the daily salt intake of Americans could prevent up to 66,000 strokes, 99,000 heart attacks and 92,000 deaths in the United States, while saving $24 billion in health costs per year.

Your body needs salt to live. We need salt to maintain a balance of body fluids, to transmit nerve signals, and for muscles to function properly. Our body requires about 500 MG of salt each day. How much is that? About a fifth of a teaspoon. The American Heart Association recommends that you take in no more than 2400 MG of salt per day. How much is that? One teaspoon. That’s it.

But most Americans consume between 4000 – 6000 MG per day. Where is this extra salt coming from? It’s coming from the processed foods that we eat; the pre-packed or canned meals that we buy in supermarkets or meals that we consume from popular restaurant chains.

“The consequences of too much salt are hypertension, or high blood pressure, which increases the risk of a stroke or heart attack,” says Amy Schnabel, MS, RD, Clinical Nutrition Manager at the UCLA Medical Center. Ninety percent of Americans will develop hypertension unless they take steps to prevent it. Two studies reported in the April 19, 2007 issue of the British Medical Journal showed that people who cut back on the amount of salt in their diets by 25-35 percent could reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease by as much as 25 percent and lower their mortality rates by 20 percent.

“The biggest misconception about sodium intake is that many people think that, by removing the salt shaker from the dinner table, they aren’t eating salt,” adds Schnabel. “What they may not know is that as much as 80 percent of dietary sodium comes from eating out and from packaged and processed foods. The average American consumes 4,000 to 6,000 milligrams of salt per day. It is used for taste, to preserve foods, and provide texture. About 12 percent of the sodium in our diets comes from adding salt and sodium-containing condiments to what we cook and eat. Even some drugs (antacids, for example) have high amount of sodium.

My buddy, David Zinczenko was (author of Eat This, Not That!) was recently on the Today Show where he exposed some of the saltiest restaurant entrees. Here are some of the worst offenders:

P.F. Chang’s Hot and Sour Soup Bowl
o 6,878 mg sodium
o 336 calories
o 12 g fat (2 g saturated)

Sodium Equivalent: 208 saltine crackers

Olive Garden Grilled Shrimp Caprese
o 3,490 mg sodium
o 900 calories
o 41 g fat (17 g saturated)
o 82 g carbs

Sodium Equivalent: 23 individual canisters of Pringles

Arby’s Sausage Gravy Biscuit
o 4,700 mg sodium
o 1,040 calories
o 60 g fat (22 g saturated, 2 g trans)

Sodium Equivalent: 13 large orders of McDonald’s french fries!

Read David’s entire line-up of the Best, and Worst Foods for your Blood Pressure.

And finally, what can you do to reduce your salt intake? Try these tips!

o When eating out, ask that no salt be added to your entree
o At home, use herbs and spices to season your food instead of salt – try Mrs. Dash!
o Remove or reduce salt from recipes whenever possible
o Keep the saltshaker OFF your dining table