About 90% of Americans eat more sodium than is recommended for a healthy diet. Too much sodium increases a person’s risk for high blood pressure. High blood pressure often leads to heart disease and stroke. More than 800,000 people die each year from heart disease, stroke and other vascular diseases, costing the nation $273 billion health care dollars in 2010. Most of the sodium we eat comes from processed foods and foods prepared in restaurants. You can select lower sodium foods when possible and you can cook more foods yourself to better control how much sodium you eat.
It’s important to realize the words salt and sodium are sometimes used interchangeable because most of the sodium we eat is in the form of salt (sodium chloride). Some salts don’t contain sodium. In order to control our sodium levels, we must take a look at types, sources and brands of food.
Types: More than 40% of sodium comes from the following 10 types of foods: Breads and rolls, cold cuts and cured meats such as deli or packaged ham or turkey, pizza, fresh and processed poultry, soups, sandwiches such as cheeseburgers, cheese, pasta dishes (does not include macaroni and cheese), meat-mixed dishes such as meat loaf with tomato sauce, and snacks such as chips, pretzels, and popcorn.
Sources: About 65% of sodium eaten comes from food bought at retail stores, so look for lower sodium choices. About 25% comes from restaurants and it can be hard for a person to tell how much sodium is in restaurant foods.
Brands: Different brands of the same foods may have different sodium levels. For example, sodium in chicken noodle soup can vary by as much as 840 milligrams (mg) per serving.
Eating less sodium is a challenge. Americans eat on average about 3,300 mg of sodium a day. The recommended sodium intake is 2,300 mg a day and about 6 in 10 adults should further limit sodium to 1,500 mg a day. In addition, foods that otherwise seem healthy may have high levels of sodium (e.g., cottage cheese and turkey breast luncheon meat). Sodium is also included in surprising ways. For example, much of the raw chicken and pork bought from a store has been injected with a sodium solution. 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.
Let’s take a look at some common foods and their sodium ranges:
1 slice white bread – 80-230 mg
3 oz turkey breast, deli or pre-packaged luncheon meat – 450-1,050 mg
4 oz slice frozen pizza, plain cheese, regular crust – 370-730 mg
4 oz slice restaurant pizza, plain cheese, regular crust – 510-760 mg
4 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, fresh – 40-330 mg
3 oz chicken strips, restaurant, breaded – 430-900 mg
3 oz chicken nuggets, frozen, breaded – 200-570 mg
1 cup chicken noodle soup, canned prepared – 100-940 mg
1 corn dog, regular – 350-620 mg
1 cheeseburger, fast food restaurant – 710-1,690 mg
1 oz slice American cheese, processed – 330-460 mg
1 cup canned pasta with meat sauce – 530-980 mg
5 oz pork with barbecue sauce (packaged) – 600-1,120 mg
1 oz potato chips, plain – 50-200 mg
As you can see, sodium adds up quickly in our daily diet. Some things we can do to reduce our intake of sodium are to choose healthier options, read the Nutrition Facts label, eat a diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables without sauce, limit processed foods and request lower sodium options when dining out.
