Seniors: Sodium consumption and good heart health
According to a study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, 2011, Americans who eat a high sodium diet, along with a low consumption of potassium, have a 50 percent increased risk of death from any cause (repeat, any cause) and about twice the risk of death from heart attacks.
Both sodium and potassium are necessary for the body to function. Sodium helps to regulate the amount of water in the body, while potassium helps to regulate your heartbeat and muscle functioning. However, too much or too little of either and the body becomes imbalanced and goes into battle to keep things working properly. Losing that battle could result in high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, stroke and kidney disease.
A healthy daily sodium intake is considered by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the American Heart Association (AHA) to be between 1,500mg and 2,400mg per day. The USDA recommends that our daily intake of potassium be double that of sodium. Furthermore, Dr. Elena Kuklind, an investigator on the study cited above, discovered that, on average, U.S. adults consume about 3,300mg of sodium each day, which is more than twice the minimum recommended amount!
Needless to say, the bottom line is to reduce the amount of sodium in your diet. Since about 80 percent of most people’s sodium intake comes from packaged and restaurant foods, these are the areas to examine first. Keep in mind that, according to the USDA and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), in order to be labeled “healthy,” a “meal type” product (e.g. TV dinners and other frozen entrees) must not exceed 600mg of sodium per serving size. Other products labeled “healthy,” should not exceed 480mg of sodium per serving size.
Why not start reducing your sodium by calculating, for at least five consecutive days, the amount of sodium (table salt) you are adding to your food (1 teaspoon equals 2,300mg) and the amount of sodium in packaged foods (read their Nutrition Facts labels). Then reduce your sodium intake for the subsequent five days. Compare the amounts that you were consuming with the amounts that you can do without. The results may surprise you!
On those rare occasions when I use salt in cooking, I generally add a pinch of sea salt. It is both coarse and moist because it holds onto the natural water from the sea. Furthermore, it has not been washed or dried and therefore retains many of its natural minerals.
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