LIMU LEANâ„¢: The Salt of Life

Dear Challenge Participants,

Today we’ll discuss the oldest, most ubiquitous food seasoning:

Salt.

And we’re not the only ones concerned with your sodium intake. In recent news, the New York Health Department unveiled an initiative just this past Monday urging restaurants and food companies across the country to voluntarily reduce their products’ salt levels. “Salt is a huge problem in our diets,” said Dr. Sonia Angell, director of the Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control Program at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. “The majority of us consume too much salt, which increases blood pressure and puts us at risk for heart attack and stroke.” The average American adult consumes about 3,400 to 3,500 milligram of sodium a day, while most people only need about 1,500. That’s a staggering over indulgence of salt. Therefore, you and salt aren’t exactly so perfect together.

Things you should know regarding sodium:

• Excessive salt consumption can cause water retention.
• Salt consumption leads to high blood pressure, which increases risk for stroke
• You should consume no more than 2,300 mg/day of sodium (that’s the equivalent of about one teaspoon of table salt).
• When you do eat out, you definitely should not add extra salt to the food, it’s already loaded with it.
• Try your best to gradually reduce, and eventually eliminate all added salt, especially at the table.
• Use it sparingly in cooking.
• Turns out that the taste for salt is purely a habit: the more you eat the more you want.
• Once you cut back your taste for salt will decrease to the point where added salt will make food taste noticeably too salty.

Excessive sodium comes from:

• Processed and packaged foods
• Restaurant and fast foods
• Adding extra salt in cooking and at the table

Now that you’re armed with all of this great information, do yourself a favor and look at labels for sodium content – you’ll be in for a shock – look for the ways to reduce your sodium intake. Of course no one is going to count up mg of sodium all day. So my recommendation is simply this: assume you are at risk, assume you eat too much salt every day and just try to cut back whenever and wherever you can.