Is Salt the Enemy ??

I have a few clients that are watching what they eat very well, but are stumped. 

Why is the weight-loss plateauing at times? 

Why do they seem to have lower energy on days when they express having received enough sleep?

Last September the Department of Health and Human Services announced its own national campaign against heart attacks (and indirectly sodium intake) called Million Hearts. This national initiative has set the ambitious goal to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by 2017.

But is Salt Really The Problem?

Yes and No  

Eating Less Sodium can be a challenge...
Salt can be included in foods in surprising ways. In fact, foods that otherwise seem healthy may have high levels of sodium (e.g., cottage cheese and turkey breast luncheon meat). Some foods that you eat several times a day, such as bread, add up to a lot of sodium even though each serving is not high in sodium. There are steps that you can take, however, to reduce sodium in your diet.

Salt consumed at the recommended serving size of 2300 mg a day is fine for seventy percent of the population who are not considered sodium sensitive.  The problem is that on average Americans consume two to three times the recommended serving size…every day.  
Many of us are completely unaware that we are sodium offenders.  According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about ninety percent of Americans eat more than the recommended amount of salt.  We think we are eating right by counting calories, bringing our own lunches to work, and refraining from sprinkling salt on the more bland foods we consume.  

Important to Understand: You can remove calories without removing salt.  

Dining Out: If you dined out for even just one meal today, it’s possible you’ve already reached or exceeded your sodium allotment for the day!

The good news is that you can easily take control of your sodium intake.  The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has identified the ten offending food types responsible for nearly half of the sodium we consume; those foods include: breads, cold cuts and deli meats, pizza, fresh and processed poultry, soups, sandwiches, cheese, pasta dishes, meat mixed dishes such as meat loaf with tomato sauce, and snacks such as chips, pretzels, and popcorn. That doesn’t mean that you can never eat these foods, but that you should be on the lookout for sodium information when you do.  As part of the National Salt Reduction Initiative, many companies are reducing the sodium they put in their products. On the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene website, you will find a nice list of companies committed to reducing the amount of sodium in their food products.  The list is a good one and includes pre-packaged food products you can buy at the grocery store as well as commercial restaurants.

Another great way to track your salt intake is with your smart phone.  There are lots of apps out there that provide a free and easy way to record what you eat by scanning the barcodes on food packaging, counting your calories for you,  or even evaluating your personal sodium consumption.

I hope you have found this useful and I wish you the best health and success in implementing these tools to your new low-sodium nutritional strategy !
In Health, 

Zeke Samples - IFA, - IDEA Personal Trainer

Fitness and Wellness Author

Surrealbody@gmail.com