Friday, April 10, 2009
Adults over the age of 20 should limit their intake of sodium to 1,500 milligrams a day, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published in 2009. Some foods could fulfill that limit in one meal. A McDonald’s Big Mac contains 1007 milligrams, a piece of Pizza Hut’s Meat Lovers’, 840 milligrams.
Adrienne Baxter, registered dietitian and instructor at the School of Allied Health, said the minimum amount of sodium needed in a healthy diet was about 500 milligrams, which she said was also the maximum amount people should consume in one meal.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that an average adult should limit their sodium intake to 1,500 milligrams a day. The average 2-year-old consumes 3,439 milligrams a day.
“When I think about young adults, I think about how poor they are at judging what they’re eating,” Baxter said, noting that Ramen noodles, a food synonymous with college life, has as many as 800 milligrams of sodium per package. She said it was difficult for people to understand the risks of consuming too much sodium because the effects weren’t always immediate.
The American Heart Association advocates lowering sodium intake to reduce the risks of high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke and kidney failure. It is estimated that one in three Americans has high blood pressure.
“An interim goal of no more than 2,300 milligrams daily might be more realistic, because the current American food supply makes reducing sodium consumption to less than 1,500 mg a day difficult,” the American Heart Association stated on their Web site.
“I don’t put salt on my food because I know it’s already loaded with salt,” Celeste Clayton, Dallas freshman, said. Clayton said she didn’t read labels, but KU Dining posted nutritional information in Mrs. E’s, including sodium contents for certain dishes.
According to the American Heart Association, table salt is 40 percent sodium by weight. Sodium assists the body in transporting fluid between cells and helps nerves transport signals for muscle movement.
The CDC reported that the average American 2-year-old consumed about 3,439 milligrams of salt each day, which was 1,339 milligrams more than the maximum 2,300 milligrams an adult should consume.
Patricia Denning, senior staff physician at Watkins Memorial Health Center, said sodium overload can prevent healthy kidney secretion. Denning also said that people develop a taste for salt that eventually makes them likely to consume more salt in order to taste.
The American Heart Association claims that salt added during food preparation only accounts for 5 percent of the average American’s salt intake. The other 95 percent is usually added to products for preserving purposes.
“To make up for the loss of flavor, food processors will increase the sodium to make the products more flavorful,” Baxter said.
Baxter said salt was a hard habit to kick and people needed to give themselves about two months to let their taste buds adjust if they were considering exercising moderation.
For more information about how to shake the habit, visit The American Heart Association’s Web site at www.americanheart.org.
— — Edited by Sam Speer
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Comments
Shaking the salt habit
I'm eating a bag of pretzels as I read this, so HA.
Shaking the salt habit
^ Best. Comment. Ever.
Shaking the salt habit
The salt habit?! It's amazing how many things the health industry tells us are good/bad for us without actually looking at the research. This NY Times article did: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/science/07tier.html?_r=2
Apparently, heart patients fare worse on low-salt diets, and they could lead to clinical depression. So if you follow the advice of doctors and health nuts, you might end up with a mental problem that could cause you to kill yourself anyway. Would I rather die happy or die sad?
The British NHS has this interesting article on low sodium levels causing depressed mood, too: http://www.nhs.uk/news/2009/03March/Pages/Saltanaturalantidepressant.aspx
Shaking the salt habit
Yet more evidence of the liberal anti-salt agenda pushed by KU, the UDK, and the America Heart Association. Typical.
Shaking the salt habit
“When I think about young adults, I think about how poor they are at judging what they’re eating."
When I think about old people, I think about how judgmental they are.
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