Sodium vs Salt

I was reading Marion Nestle's blog this morning. Yesterday's post discussed whether or not food labels should state "sodium" or "salt." "Salt" makes more sense to people, right?

I happen to believe that when most people are reading the food label {if at all} they tend to neglect the sodium amount. First, I don't know if many people know what is considered high and what is considered low when it comes to sodium amounts. Calories, fat, and sugar tend to be considered first. Don't you think? However, more and more professionals are proclaiming the importance of watching your sodium intake. Remember the recently released 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans?

The daily recommendations for sodium have been decreased to less than 2300 mg and less than 1500 mg (just 1/2 teaspoon of salt) for individuals who are older than 51, African Americans, children, or those who have hypertension, diabetes, or chronic kidney disease.

Chances are if you eat a good amount of packaged foods, even packaged "healthy" foods you are near that upper daily limit for sodium. Too much sodium in your diet is linked to hypertension, osteoporosis, kidney stones, mineral imbalance, and water retention. Furthermore, the American Medical Association has stated that 150,000 lives could be saved if Americans would cut their sodium consumption in half.

{read more here}

Sodium rules to live by:

1. When reading the food label, the percent daily value (right hand column) states percentages based on a 2,000 calorie diet. When it comes to sodium, 5% or less is low and 20% or higher is too high. A good rule of thumb is to steer clear of items that have more than 200 mg of sodium per serving.

2. Try to add little salt when cooking, use more herbs and spices.

3. Don't add salt to your plate (something I need to work on), especially at restaurants.

4. Limit fast food consumption to less than twice per month {if you MUST have it}.

5. Avoid packaged foods and prepared meals. Cook more, you have more control.

Oh, and one more thing. There is quite the hype with sea salt. Is it more healthy?

Sea salt has larger crystals and has more depth of flavor, so you can potentially use less. Gram for gram sea salt and regular salt have the same amount of sodium. No, it's not necessarily more healthy.

Track your sodium intake. You may be surprised.