Eat This Not That : Sodium Swaps

As we all know salt makes everything taste sooo good, but a common issue in the American diet is the consumption of TOO much salt. Sodium is a mineral essential for our health and helps regulate fluid balance, conduct nerve impulses and contract and relax our muscles. When sodium is over consumed it can have negative effects on our health.

Why is too much sodium bad for us?

Like I said sodium is essential for our health but too much is harmful. Sodium is an important part of our blood pressure balance. Our blood pressure needs to be in the right range to keep us healthy, too low or too high of a blood pressure reading is bad for us. When consuming a lot of sodium this increases the amount in our blood which in turn increases our blood pressure. If you think about it, the more people you have in the pool, the more the water level is going to rise. This is how you can think of the amount of sodium affects our blood pressure. Sodium is not the only thing that can lead to high blood pressure, there are other medical reasons as well. The FDA recommends no more than 2,3o0 mg of sodium and I'm gonna warn you, you eat wayyy more than that.

Why is high blood pressure so bad?

High blood pressure has been linked with an increased risk of heart attack, heart disease, stroke and kidney disease. This is because the constant stress of high blood pressure damages the arteries and makes them less elastic.

Foods high in sodium:

1. Breads and rolls: bread products have a lot of hidden salts, once slice of bread has about 200 mg of sodium.

2. cheese: is very high in sodium, about 460 mg in one slice of american cheese.

3. Pizza: this is high because it incorporates all the salty things in our diet into one meal! The bread, cheese and sauce all contain sodium so when combined its over 1,000 mg in one slice. This is without adding in any meats which will also add sodium.

4. Shrimp: shellfish are high in sodium, 3 oz of shrimp can have over 400 mg.

5. Canned products: salt is used to help preserve foods so it's no wonder canned foods have high amounts of sodium. There is about 400 mg in 1/2 cup.

6. Cured meats and cold cuts: sodium is added during the processing of these meats. 2 oz of deli turkey contains upwards of 500 mg of sodium.

7. Soups and broths: these products can have over 900 mg of sodium per serving! Almost half of your daily recommendation.

Food swaps you can make:

Sources: https://www.cdc.gov/bloodpressure/about.htm ; https://www.cdc.gov/salt/sources.htm ;