Sodium, or salt, is a mineral added to many processed and packaged foods. The convenience, appealing advertisements and taste of processed foods makes them easy to purchase and easy to eat in excess. In addition to the calories and other ingredients in convenience foods, many Americans consume a majority of their daily sodium intake from processed or packaged foods.
Sodium Recommendations
Although your body needs the mineral sodium, Americans in general consume more sodium than current recommendations. The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans outline sodium needs by age, ethnicity and medical conditions. Eat a maximum of 2,300 mg if you are under 50, not of African-American descent and have no preexisting medical conditions. The Guidelines recommend limiting your maximum sodium intake to 1,500 mg if you are over the age of 50, have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, are African-American, have kidney disease or are a diabetic. The American Heart Association recommends all adults, regardless of age or gender, limit sodium intake to 1,500 mg.
Current Intake Levels
The American Heart Association indicates that over three-quarters of the sodium the American public consumes comes from processed foods, and just one-quarter comes from non-processed sources. The average American eats about 3,436 mg of sodium from all sources, which is about 2.3 times more than the AHA recommendations and about 1.5 times more than the upper limit of the 2010 Dietary Guideline recommendations. When you consume too much salt through processed or natural foods, you may develop high blood pressure.
Sources of Sodium
Although not all processed foods contain sodium, many do. Seemingly healthy cereals such as bran flakes with raisins have 250 mg per 1 cup, reduced-fat potato chips contain 139 mg per 1 oz., canned chicken vegetable soup has 1,068 mg per cup and eight whole-wheat crackers have 210 mg. While a 3-oz. serving of roasted turkey has only 66 mg sodium, the same amount of low-salt luncheon meat turkey contains 660 mg. Other processed food sources of sodium include most carbonated beverages, sports drinks, processed cookies and desserts, frozen dinners, frozen vegetables in sauce, natural granola bars and most breads.
Strategies
While you should not eliminate sodium completely from your diet, limiting the amount of processed foods you consume can help you reduce your sodium intake. Reading the label of canned soups and broths can help you find the brand or type with the lowest sodium levels. Choose "no-salt" added crackers, make your own potato chips with thinly sliced fresh potatoes, use fresh or no-salt spaghetti sauce and limit how often you use convenience dinners or packaged snacks. Eating more whole fruits, natural whole grains, raw vegetables, non-processed dairy products and cooking your meat or seafood without salt helps you keep your sodium intake to an appropriate level.
References
- American Heart Association; Sodium (Salt or Sodium Chloride); February 2011
- American Heart Association; Shaking the Salt Habit; April 2011
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services: Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010
- USDA Nutrient Data Laboratory: Turkey, Low-Salt
- USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, Release 17: Sodium
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