Want to Improve Your Health? Put Down That Salt Shaker and Watch Your Sodium

Salt is everywhere - in that can of soup, deli sandwich, restaurant meal and even in that handful of roasted nuts. In fact, most people don’t even realize they are eating it and think that just because they don’t add it up, it’s not there.

But surprise, surprise it’s there and we need to reduce it because our sodium intake has skyrocketed. A recent study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that if Americans reduced their sodium intake by a half a teaspoon a day (1,200 milligrams) our nation could save a whopping $10 to 24 billion in health care costs per year. Pretty astounding!

But what’s more is how this amounts to our health per year. It’s predicted that it would reduce the number of new cases of coronary heart disease by 60,000 to 120,000; 32,000 to 66,000 strokes; and 54,000 to 99,000 heart attacks, totaling a reduced number of deaths by 44,000 to 92,000 per year.

This is a very big bang for our buck that really doesn’t require much work, just some help from our restaurants and food industry. With 75 to 80 percent of our salt intake coming from processed foods, we need to put our foot down and learn from other countries such as the United Kingdom who have collaborated with the food industry and put regulations on salt content.

In fact, Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York City recently did this and called on local chain restaurants and food producers to reduce the sodium in their foods by 25 percent over the next five years. Hopefully, other cities and states will follow his actions.

But until then you can do your part to reduce your blood pressure. Read labels, search for nutrition facts online, cook at home using whole foods, reduce your intake of processed foods and dine out less. Know that the Department of Agriculture and Health and Human Services currently recommended 2,300 mgs of sodium per day and 1,500 mgs for those who already have high blood pressure, middle aged and older adults, and African Americans. I urge you to count your intake: You might be surprised what you find(hint just 3 slices of deli ham has 700 mgs of sodium)!

--Beth St.Louis, MS, RD, LDN
Program Dietitian
Martin Memorial Center for Health and Healing