salt

Even the most dedicated health nut likes to go out on the town and grab a bite at a good restaurant. But that’s often fraught with dietary land mines. Every patron is fighting a losing battle with all the salt that restaurants add to their cuisine.

According to the consumer watchdog group the Center for Science in the Public Interest, restaurants are increasing their customers’ chances of high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke with all the salt they add to their food.

Among 10 popular chain restaurants examined, about 85 percent of the adult meals have more than the recommended daily sodium intake (which is >2,300 mg). Here are some examples given:

WebMD wrote a very interesting article on its website discussing the problem our country has with consuming too much salt/sodium in our diets. The Center of Disease Control found that 70 percent of Americans are consuming 2.3 times the healthy amount of salt on a daily basis.

Why is this bad?
A high sodium diet is associated with high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke, which sadly can lead to death.

How does this happen?
When you eat salt, your blood pressure increases.  When you consistently consume high amounts of salt, your blood pressure remains high and dramatically increases your risk of stroke and heart disease.

The shocking news.
A major contributor to this increase in salt consumption is not due to sprinkling salt from the shaker (obviously this adds to it), but studies show that most salt from our diet is from processed and manufactured foods.

There’s some good news about a food that’s long been chastised. University of Iowa researchers say that salt may act as a natural anti-depressant. This from the condiment that’s been blamed for hypertension. Go figure.

Tests on rats found that when there was a salt deficiency, they shied away from activities they normally enjoyed.

“Things that normally would be pleasurable for rats didn’t elicit the same degree of relish which leads us to believe that a salt deficit and the craving associated with it can induce one of the key symptoms associated with depression,” says psychologist Kim Johnson.

The average person is supposed to consume no more than 2300mg of salt/sodium per day (or 1 tsp.). For those with high blood pressure, it’s about 1500mg. Most of us are consuming two-to-three times this amount each day. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a packaged or processed food, or a restaurant menu item that is low in salt. Food manufacturers are making an effort to include more reduced-sodium items, but even those still have astonishing quanities.

Avoid the risk of stroke and heart disease by following these simple tips for reducing salt in a low-sodium diet:

1. Eat Fresh Foods. Cook your own meals, use fresh produce, use fresh meats and seafood, and rinse canned foods before serving.
2. Read Labels. Carefully read labels and buy items that indicate no- or low-sodium. Beware of sodium agents like monosodium glutamate (MSG) and baking soda or powder.
3. Skip the Instructions. Replace salt in recipes with any other spice or herb.

We all know our food ingredient labels are riddled with words that require an advanced degree to understand. Most of us bypass reading them because it’s easier. However, buried in those multi-syllabic words are chemical additives that can have an adverse effect on our health and how are bodies absorb nutrients. These chemical ingredients increase a food’s shelf life, enhance their flavor and color, and make them all-around more appealing to consumers. Packaged food manufacturers and fast food or dine-in restaurants use them (consider this 12-year old hamburger from McDonald’s that has not varied in appearance at all). Use this list as a guide of eight chemical additives you should avoid.

Remember, as our pal Chef Rocco from Biggest Loser advises- shop the perimeter of your grocery store because that’s where all the unprocessed foods are stocked. Eat a diet rich in fresh produce, whole grains, lean proteins and fish and low-fat dairy and your body will thank you.

1. Trans Fat

This additive has garnered much attention recently, and popular trainer Jillian Michaels noted that its the one thing she’d completely remove from grocery stores if she could. Noted on food ingredient labels as “Partially Hydrogenated Oil or Vegetable Oil,” consuming this can be detrimental to your health by promoting poor cardiovascular health and premature heart attacks. Read your labels closely, a food containing <.5g of trans fat per serving is permitted to list zero grams on its label (like Special K Bars).

Culprits: Fried Food, Restaurant Food, Microwave Popcorn, Margarine, Crackers, Chips, Packaged Cookies and Cakes

2. Salt/Sodium

It’s possibly one of the most dangerous additives in our food supply. Everyone from food manufacturers, restaurant chefs and dear old mom use it in nearly everything we eat and drink. Whether used as a preservative or to enhance or better the flavor, foods high in salt/sodium pose a great risk to our cardiovascular health. The recommended daily allowance for sodium is 2,400 mg, or 1 tsp. of table salt, per day. Fast food meals like McDonald’s Grilled Chicken Ranch BLT combo (~1785 mg Sodium), can contain close to, if not more, than an entire day’s worth of sodium.

Culprits: Fast Food, Deli Meats, Canned Goods, Crackers, Chips, Processed/Packaged Foods