Vim & Vigor - Spring 2014 - North Mississippi - (Page 40)
DROWNING IN SALT
SALT IS
HARMFUL
BECAUSE IT
HOLDS ON
TO WATER,
40
SPRING 2 014
THE UPSIDE OF SALT
Salt isn't all bad. In fact, we need salt in our
bodies. It's a vital mineral our body cannot manufacture itself, so we rely on food
to provide it. Salt maintains the fluid balance in the body, Larson explains, assisting
with nerve impulse transmission and muscle contraction.
Salt's chloride ions help regulate blood
volume, blood pressure and the pH of body
fluids. Too little salt in the body can lead
to the potentially fatal, but rare, condition
called hyponatremia, which is most often
found in athletes, such as marathon runners,
who take in too much water and overdilute
the sodium content in the body.
"Sodium attracts and holds on to water,"
Larson says. "So, people who take in too
much salt retain water, their blood volume
increases and the heart works harder."
WHERE'S
IT COMING FROM?
We don't necessarily need to add salt to anything, since salt naturally occurs in a lot of
the foods we eat. Most unprocessed fish and
meat contains less than 120 mg of sodium
per serving, meaning the U.S. Food and
Drug Administration classifies them as lowsodium foods.
For instance, 3 ounces of unprocessed
salmon or cod contains between 56 mg and
89 mg of sodium. Shellfish has some of the
highest naturally occurring salt content.
Raw scallops contain 333 mg of sodium in
3 ounces.
Whole-grain foods are on the low side. One
cup of cooked brown rice has just 10 mg of
sodium, and one cup of air-popped popcorn
has 1 mg of sodium. (Beware of movie theater
popcorn, which not only has plenty of salt
but also might be smothered in fatty butter.)
Some fresh fruits and vegetables contain sodium and some do not. Carrots, for
instance, will give you 76 mg of sodium per
cup while an apple has just 1 mg. One cup of
cooked Swiss chard has 313 mg of sodium,
while a cup of cucumbers contains 2 mg. But
beware of canned veggies: A cup of cooked
fresh spinach has 126 mg of sodium versus
746 mg in a cup of canned spinach.
You might be
surprised where
your salt is coming
from. Watch that
Swiss chard-but
FEEL FREE TO
INDULGE IN
AIR-POPPED
POPCORN.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY THINKSTOCK
increasing
blood volume
and making
your heart
work harder.
U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend we limit
our salt intake to 2,300 milligrams a day,
max. And for certain groups at higher risk
of heart disease-those older than 50, blacks,
or individuals with chronic kidney disease,
high blood pressure or diabetes-1,500 mg a
day is more than enough.
Unfortunately, says Kim Larson, a registered dietitian and a spokeswoman for the
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, most of
us are soaring right past those guidelines,
blissfully unaware that we're taking in an
average of 3,400 mg of sodium a day.
"It's easy to see why," Larson says. "More
than 70 percent of our salt comes from processed, packaged foods."
These American staples of speedy lunchgrabbing and dinner-making may be our
No. 1 enemy in the fight against heart disease.
But that doesn't mean our saltshaker gets a
full reprieve.
"I think it would be a great idea to take the
saltshaker off the table," Larson says. "That's
probably the number-two way in which we
increase the salt in our diet."
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Vim & Vigor - Spring 2014 - North Mississippi
Vim & Vigor - Spring 2014 - North Mississippi
Contents
Opening Thoughts
Cardiac Caretakers
Mending Hearts
Occupational Hazards
The New Rules of Play
Shopping for Two
Back to Basics
Burn, Baby, Burn
Angelina Jolie
Rock Your Health
Breaking Up with Salt
Disgusting! (or Not?)
Virtual Health
One Day at a Time
The Doctor Will See You Now
Catch the Spirit
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