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How To Pinch The Salt From Your Diet

Allison Van Dusen,

 
 
Most of us know that certain groups--middle-aged and older adults, African Americans and people with high blood pressure, for example--are salt sensitive and need to limit how much they consume.

But, say you're under 50, generally healthy and have normal blood pressure. Should you still watch your salt intake?

The answer, many nutritionists and physicians say, is yes, primarily because most Americans' salt intake is so high--often twice the amount of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) recommended daily allowance of 2,300 milligrams, or the equivalent of one teaspoon of salt. (The World Health Organization recommends adults consume less than 2,000 milligrams per day.)

"It's never too early to be preventive," says Dana Ellis, a cardiac dietitian at UCLA Medical Center.

On average, according to the USDA, a higher intake of salt, or sodium chloride, translates to a higher blood pressure level. Known as the "silent killer," high blood pressure doesn't usually have symptoms but it increases the risk for heart disease and stroke, the leading causes of death in the U.S.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that one in three American adults has high blood pressure or hypertension, helping make it one of the country's 10 most expensive medical conditions. Treatment cost an estimated $42 billion in 2005, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Where Sodium Lurks

Even people who've banned the salt shaker from their dinner tables can have a difficult time monitoring their consumption, since table salt accounts for only 6% of our overall intake.

In addition, it's impossible to tell how much salt most restaurants use in their dishes--particularly the sauces--and high levels of sodium are hiding in a wide range of processed foods, including cereal and canned vegetables. To make things more confusing, similar processed foods can vary in sodium content by several hundreds of milligrams, with one brand of hamburger bun containing 160 milligrams and another 440 milligrams.

And, let's face it, most people aren't paying that much attention.

"Generally consumers are becoming more health conscious, more conscious about healthy eating," says Dr. Ron Davis, a preventive medicine physician and president of the American Medical Association (AMA). "But it's not easy. When you eat out a lot you don't know what you're getting."

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Since 2006, the AMA has been urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to develop regulatory measures to limit sodium in processed and restaurant foods, calling for a minimum 50% cut in the amount of sodium in these foods by 2016. The nonprofit nutrition watchdog group The Center For Science in the Public Interest is awaiting the results of a 2005 lawsuit it filed against the FDA, accusing the agency of not following through on promises to make food companies voluntarily reduce their products' sodium content.

In the meantime, some manufacturers, such as Campbell's and ConAgra Foods, have made concerted efforts recently to offer reduced-sodium products, while others have left every grain intact.

Top Tips

Experts say if, on top of keeping track of your daily fat and calorie consumption, you can summon the time and energy to monitor your salt intake, you've got to change the way you eat out. Start seeking out low-sodium menu options, ask for dressings and sauces to come on the side, and skip the bacon, sausage, extra cheese, breaded foods, chips and soups, Ellis says.

When you're cooking at home, add flavor via lemon juice or spices, rather than salt. Reading labels is also a must that will help you begin to gauge your daily intake.

If you're worried that food is going to taste suddenly bland once you start pinching the salt, you're right. But it won't be that way for long, and the health benefits will last.

"If you're diligent about it," Ellis says, "a month after you go back to eating foods that you used to eat they'll taste salty to you."