Had a restive night, not used to the bed, the house, the whatnot - but Mom is very hospitable. Started the day with my usual Friday morning treadmill run and the routine of it, the normalcy, was calming. Received really nice gifts and sentiments from my coworkers this last day. Oh, I think I will add the picture of us...
Now the Health Mention:
I had mentioned not long ago that there was again a push to address the salt content in our foods as the majority of Americans are consuming far more than the recommended 2400 mg a day. Not only are we consuming more than is recommended, but a growing number of health experts are saying that the recommendation itself is too high. What's more, the amount that we really need is less than a teaspoon - the mg amounts to about 3/4 of a teaspoon. (BTW too much salt effects blood volume and flow which then effects the arteries and thus can lead to heart disease)
According to people quoted in a recent Wall St Journal article, the problem isn't what we add, it is what is already there. The best way to get control of this intake is to limit processed and restaurant foods.
Salt is basically sodium and chloride and it is sodium that we are trying to limit. At least with processed foods you can read the labels. And DO read them, all of them, because sodium sneaks into foods. Bread, cheese and vegetarian meals can pack a wallop as can cereal.
Also, did you know that salt has its own advocacy industry. Yup, the Salt Institute. It IS true that we need a certain amount of sodium to maintain our system. At the same time, it is highly unlikely that a person would have a sodium deficiency. Those most at risk might be athletes, but then they are aware that they need electrolytes and I expect they would hydrate accordingly.
So the simple message for today is really this: Read your labels and avoid foods that have more than 300 mg per serving and follow these other tips offered by the public health folks at Harvard - home of my favorite PhD/MD - Walter Willett.
No comments:
Post a Comment