Sodium’s Influence on Diet
Gosh, I’d have to say that besides sugar and fat, salt is definitely one of my downfalls when it comes to my diet. Even when I’m watching the sugars and the fats in my diet, I tend to salt my food more and use saltier seasonings to make up for the flavor I feel is lacking because I can’t use a lot of the “other bad stuff” in my food or recipes. Salt is really tasty, let’s face it. That’s why fast food tastes so good - it’s sodium content is usually out of control!
High sodium usually leads to high blood pressure which, among other things, can lead to increased risk of stroke, heart disease, and kidney disease and failure. It can also make you retain lots of water, and that doesn’t make for a pretty sight - ladies can side with me on that one, since our hormones often make us retain a lot of water and seemingly gain weight overnight sometimes. Water weight and water retention are one of the reasons that people with heart problems are often prescribed water pills that make them get rid of excess water retention.
So, what can excess sodium do to your diet and your body, respectively, and how can you better control the sodium intake in your diet to achieve greater health, and hopefully better blood pressure?
Well, we do need SOME sodium in our diet. It is essential to nerve function, and certain systems would shut down without this important mineral believe it or not. However, studies have been done that show most Americans consume more than three times the recommended daily allowance of sodium (salt) in their diet.
First of all, don’t salt your food, especially if the food has already been cooked with some salt or has been cooked with seasonings that contain sodium. Or, of course if the food you are eating has a lot of naturally occurring sodium, then please do not salt your food. This may seem really hard to do at first, believe me, if I had high blood pressure, I would greatly miss salting my food. However, people I know who have stopped salting their food say that they actually grow accustomed to it without extra salt, and prefer it that way.
Read the sodium content on all of your food before you buy it in the store. If there is an option, especially in canned veggies, make sure you buy the low sodium option instead of the regular canned veggies. At fast food places, almost always opt for the burger without cheese and many condiments, as this is where much of the sodium comes in. A salad at these places is the ideal choice actually, but if you have to, just take the cheese off and hold most condiments if possible.
