It is known that if you have too much sodium, it will increase the blood pressure that could make hypertension worse, which is the main contributing factor to cardiovascular diseases. The specialists claim that the higher the blood pressure, the higher the chances of coronary heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, and heart failure.
How much is too much?
Some people think that they can take care of the problem by avoiding the use of salt at the table. However, about 75% of the sodium intake comes from processed food, food eaten at restaurants, fast foods or other establishments. These foods are packed with salt and in the majority of the cases people don’t even realize it.
Statistical Data
By getting convenience foods, cooking with salted meats, and eating out, generally speaking an adult person has about 4,000 to 6,000 mg of salt on a daily basis. Based on your health and age, you shouldn’t have more than 1,200 to 2,400 mg each day. If you are over 50, if you have high blood pressure, or if you are African American, you shouldn’t have more than 1,500 mg.
Cut Back
The specialists say that the best thing people could do is to cut back on salt. The less salt people have the more sensitive the taste buds will become. This means that the tongue will be able to sense salt even in the foods people thought didn’t have any salt.
Safe Food
For a long time sodium has been considered safe, but more and more people get concerned about it. Some of the organizations say that the authorities should set a limit that the restaurant and processed foods are allowed to contain. The food manufacturers and restaurants have also been asked to reduce the use of sodium by 50% over the next 10 years.
Compare the Products
Before buying food you should compare the foods of the same category. For instance the same kind of salad dressing can contain 170 to 500 mg of sodium. A cup of tomato soup can come with 340 to 950 mg and the sedum levels of frozen fried chicken vary between 900 to 2,160 mg.
Low-Fat Items
The truth about low-fat items is that they can be more than tricky. While they might not contain high levels of fat, they can have other kinds of harmful ingredients. In order to make the food taste better, the producers remove the fat, but they add sodium to the foods.
Restaurant Foods
Restaurant foods are known to be packed with sodium. A slice of pizza can contain 1,580 mg of sodium. Chicken chow can come with up to 2,400 mg of sodium (the maximum daily limit) and even the healthy Caesar salad can contain 900 to 1,450 mg of sodium. This might make you think twice before you eat out ever again.
Don’t forget that sodium doesn’t only mean salt. Many foods contain sodium that don’t seem to be salty at all and this is what you have to keep an eye out for.
