Baby Boomer Health – Salt

Welcome to this weeks edition of Baby Boomer Health – Salt

Show Notes:

Most Americans consume 4,000 mg of sodium per day.  The recommended upper limit of sodium is 2,300 mg per day.

High sodium can lead to problems with blood pressure, heart disease and stroke.

Where do we get our sodium?  About 10% comes from salt added from the table and in cooking at home.  10% comes from natural sodium in food.  80% of the sodium comes from processed and restaurant foods.

We know that excess sodium is bad for us. How can we control it?
 
 1.  Minimize your intake of processed and packaged food
 2.  Read the labels and avoid foods with >200 mg of sodium per serving
 3.  Check all labels – for example cream of tomato soup varies by manufacturer between 340 -950 mg sodium
 4.  Just because it don't taste salty does not mean it is not full of sodium.  Bread contains up to 400 mg of sodium in two slices
 5.  Choose fresh fruits and vegetables more often
 6.  Limit your consumption of fast foods and Asian foods
 7.  Avoid most soups and sauces
 8.  Read labels of salad dressings
 9.  Ask the waiter if your food can be prepared without salt
 
Your taste buds will get used to low sodium food and after about 45 days will adjust to its taste.