The average American eats about 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt a day, the equivalent of 3450 mg each day. The recommended daily allowance of sodium is about 1 teaspoon a day (2300 mg). And if you have high blood pressure, the recommendation is even less, 2/3 teaspoon per day (1534 mg). Too much salt in the daily diet leads to heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke. Salt intake will increase blood pressure; the more salt in the diet, the higher the blood pressure goes. Once your blood pressure reaches a certain level, your risk of stroke increases dramatically. Lowering salt intake is a proven and simple way to decrease risk factors for suffering a stroke, which can be extremely devastating to your life and your family. Another reason to avoid high salt food is that salt retains water in the body. Too much salt in the diet can cause weight gain and puffiness. So where does all the salt come from if you are not sprinkling salt on your food, how does 3,450 mg of sodium end up in your diet each day? The answer is processed and manufactured food. Seventy-five percent of our average daily sodium intake comes from processed foods, such as tomato sauce, soup, prepared mixes, canned food, condiments, and processed meats, including sausage, bacon and cold cuts. Another culprit for high levels of sodium in our food is all the chemicals that are added to processed and manufactured food. In addition to the directly added salt, chemicals such as baking soda, baking powder, sodium benzoate, MSG, sodium alginate and disodium phosphate all contain high levels of salt. To give you an example of how much sodium can be in a little portion of processed food, one slice of Kraft American Cheese has 290 mg. Ketchup is a big offender as well, with 190 mg per tablespoon. As far as processed food with way too much sodium goes, here is a list of the biggest offenders: Frozen dinner, 780 mg. Ready to eat cereal, 390 mg. Canned vegetables, 700 mg. Dry roasted salted nuts, 190 mg /per ounce. Potato chips and pretzels, 200-400 mg. The types of foods from chain-type restaurants can contain as much sodium as the daily recommended allowance of 2300 mg in one meal! The list goes on and on. So, how do we avoid the salt? First, start eating naturally. Naturally means fresh food, such as fresh whole food vegetables and fruit. Stay away from food in a can, bag or box. If you have to use a canned or box food, look for the sodium-free or low salt versions. Adding your own pinch of salt to sodium-free products results in way less salt than would be contained in the 'regular' salted product. Possibly the most important thing you can do is to look for the sodium content on package labels. If the sodium content is 12% or more of the RDA, then that product has too much salt. As far as enjoying the food we eat goes, salt tastes like salt. Too much salt in or on food makes all food taste the same, salty. So, do yourself a favor, enjoy food the way it tastes naturally and, at the same time, preserve the kind of health that makes life worth living.
