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How Salty is your Daily Diet?
Everyone is talking about reducing the salt in our diet and the foods we eat and I don't mind it one bit. I've always been frustrated by its pervasiveness and irritated when the Chef can't find that delicate balance between bland and "you've got to be kidding me". It's a flavor enhancer when just barely there and a blood pressure-raising, tongue-stinging disaster when over used. While I may view it as an occasional nuisance, salt, or more specifically sodium, has become a serious dietary issue threatening the nation's health. The recent report from the 2010 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee said that, in short, Americans need to eat less salt (so far, they're saying that the new recommendation should be closer to 1500 mg per day). Coupled with our desperately low intake of potassium from fruits and vegetables, our country's high salt diet puts us at a greater risk for high blood pressure, stroke and other chronic diseases. I was thinking...we all know that the foods that are the highest in sodium tend to be those that fall into the canned, processed, ready-made, snack, cured and fast food category...but do we really know how much sodium we are currently consuming from our mainstays, our daily preferences, the frequently consumed food in our fridge and pantry? Just how salty is your fridge, freezer and cupboard now? How salty is mine??? So, here's your homework: perform a pantry raid - find the foods you eat daily, check their labels or look them up on the USDA nutrition analysis site and compare them to the potential 1500 mg per day that the new Dietary Guidelines (due out in late 2010) might recommend as a daily limit. I'll start with mine. Let's see how this supposed "low sodium eater" does on a daily basis with the daily basics - there may be salty surprises! Click HERE for the photo gallery of answers.
New York, United States
Dietitian
I am a board certified specialist in sports dietetics and an age-group triathlete and Iron…MORE
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