| ||
Wednesday, Apr. 27, 2005 | ||
Its good to pass on the saltBy EDWARD M. EVELD Admit it. You stopped worrying about salt. Who can blame you? In terms of food intake, youve been keeping a watchful eye on calories while counting carbs and trying to figure out where all those bad trans fats are hiding. But a nutrition watchdog group, darn it, has decided that most of us need a refresher course on sodium, and plenty of dietitians agree. Between eating out and buying, oh, just about any non-raw food item at the supermarket, were basically swimming in sodium. You might be proud of all those choices in your shopping cart because theyre happy with FIBER! or CALCIUM! or VITAMINS! Some are FREE! of fat molecules. Take a look at the sodium count on the nutrition label, however, and the salt news probably isnt good. It doesnt take many servings of this stuff to soar past the recommended daily limit of 2,300 milligrams, which is about a teaspoon. And too much salt means an increased risk of high blood pressure, a very bad deal for the heart. If people use the food labels, theyll be surprised, said registered dietitian Sandy Procter with Kansas State Extension and Research. Surprised that salt is in places where it has no dietary business, that is. Its added because its inexpensive and weve developed a taste for it. Recently the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group in Washington, sued the Food and Drug Administration to force a crackdown on the amount of sodium in processed food. By defining salt as a food additive, the organization said, the FDA would have more regulatory authority to limit it. Some think the advocacy group is more a fearmonger than a watchdog. This is the organization that pointed out several years ago that movie popcorn and Chinese food are crammed with calories and fat. Saltified groceries are less obvious and more difficult to avoid. Ann Chapman, registered dietitian at the University of Kansas, said store-bought bread is a good example. Two slices of Earth Grains wheat bread, the package of which trumpets its calcium and notes its lack of trans fats, contains 430 milligrams of sodium. Thats nearly 20 percent of the sodium you need all day and from a source not thought of as salty. None of this is to say that salt should be banished. In fact, its essential to good health. Calibrating the amount is the issue, and right now the average American eats too much, somewhere in the 3,000 to 4,000 milligram range. And while the recommended limit is 2,300 milligrams, some middle-age and older people are told by their doctors to shoot for 1,500 milligrams. Getting enough potassium, nutritionists say, may help blunt the effects of too much sodium. Fresh fruits and vegetables are a good source. One way to combat all the sodium at the grocery store, dietitians said, is to look for reduced sodium or no salt added varieties. Consumers nowadays are much better at checking fat and carb grams, Procter said, and they can get just as good at checking sodium on nutrition labels. Choosing the least-processed items will help, but cooking with fresh ingredients is the best solution. If you cant do fresh vegetables, pick frozen over canned. And instead of salt, use fresh garlic and spices. Perhaps the hardest part, Chapman said, is accepting that food without so much salt wont taste the same. It doesnt have to be bland, she said, but youll notice the difference. We dont need all this sodium that food has been processed with for so long, Chapman said. Our enjoyment of sodium is a learned behavior. We can unlearn it. Salty excess Sodium is essential in the diet. Salt does good things for food. But too much salt can be unhealthy. Here are some tips to help you keep your milligrams under control. 1. Dont touch the saltshaker. Canned vegetables A half-cup of canned green beans: 390 milligrams of sodium 16 percent daily value. Try the no-salt-added variety, which has just 10 milligrams a serving. | ||
Copyright 2004-Fayette Publishing, Inc. |