I love salt. I grew up with salt on watermelon, salt on cottage cheese, salt on cucumbers and extra salt on everything! Ironically, my dad has been on a salt substitute since I was young for hypertension. It always tasted bitter to me and since my blood pressure has always been low, I never worried about it.

A new study has has me thinking otherwise. I often track fat, calories, fiber and protein but by ignoring the sodium, I have made some food choices that were not as healthy as I thought.

We are a salt overloaded society. Shockingly, 75%-80% of our salt does not come from the shaker but from what is packaged in our food. A new study released from the New England Journal of Medicine highlights how cutting just a ½ teaspoon a day may dramatically saves lives and billions of dollars.

How much salt is too much?

The average American man consumes 10.4 g of salt each day; the average woman, 7.3 g. The daily recommended amount, according the US government, is 6 g or 1 tsp of salt or 2300mg of sodium if you are in a low risk group.

Higher risk groups include people with hypertension, African Americans and people over age 40. They should consume closer to 1500 mg. Here I thought I was home free not realizing my age makes me high risk. Bummer!

How can reducing even a little salt help?

A recent study in the New England Journal of medicine showed consuming ½ tsp less of salt

(1/2 teaspoon of salt contains 1200 mg of sodium =3g)

a day may be as effective in decreasing the risk of death in hypertensive patients as taking medicine to control blood pressure.

They predicted that there would be reductions of

120,000 less cases of heart disease

66,000 less cases of stroke

99,000 less heart attacks

Up to 92,000 less deaths especially in young people that didn’t know they had hypertension.

They also predicted $10 billion to $24 billion savings in health care costs annually if we all reduced by 3 g or ½ tsp per day.

What is the best way to reduce salt?

1) Slide into Salt Reduction

It takes 3 weeks to 3 months for our taste buds to change and not miss salt. Gradually lowering your salt intake makes it more tolerable so you will stick with it.

2) Look for Salt Shockers.

Almost 75% of the salt we consume each day comes from processed and prepared foods, such as breads, cereals and dairy products. I was shocked to learn that one serving of potato chips has  HALF the amount of sodium as a serving of cottage cheese.

Just as I was shocked that there is more salt in chips than cottage cheese, who knew that a bagel had more salt than a cheese omelet? Take Consumers Reports food quiz or this FREE easy food tracker that will not only counts calories and fat but sodium too at sparkpeople.com

3) Reduce, then eliminate the Big 4

  • Condiments including salad dressing
  • Processed meats
  • Frozen dinners
  • Canned soups

Soy sauce (1,160 mg per tablespoon)  and ketchup (178 mg per tablespoon) are stuffed with sodium while chicken bouillon (1,100 mg per packet), canned Chicken Noodle soup (1160 mg) and frozen dinners (930 mg++) are also loaded.

These are the most common salt culprits and easiest to eliminate from your diet first.

Drain and rinse canned foods before preparing them to remove some of the salt and buy low sodium soups and juices.

4) Lose the Shaker

Too often people have the habit of salting even before they try their food. Take the shaker off the table and find other spices to add flavor. Try lemon, vinegar, garlic or cumin.

There are salt alternatives but most of them are potassium chloride that has a bitter taste and may cause kidney damage. Consumer Reports found that Diamond Crystal Salt Sense did best in taste tests. It is still sodium chloride but has roughly one-third less sodium (390 mg per ¼ teaspoon).

5) Look for Sneaky Salt

Salt comes in many forms to it is important to read labels and look for sneaky salt

Monosodium Glutamate (MSG)

Baking soda

Baking powder

Disodium Phosphate

Sodium alginate

Sodium sulfite

Sodium caseinate

Sodium benzoate

Sodium hydroxide

Sodium citrate

I thought that cutting fat and calories while exercising more was enough for me. I’m not salt sensitive and didn’t think that I needed to worry about salt..yet. This study and doing other research has helped me to realize that not only will I look better ( less puffiness & fat face as I like to call it) but feel better and reduce my chances of serious disease.

Have a great Healthy New Year!

Dr. Deb