Sodium is an element that the body needs to function properly. Sodium regulates blood pressure and blood volume. Sodium makes the body hold onto fluid. The heart has to work harder to pump the additional fluid. This is how too much sodium may lead to high blood pressure. A pinch of table salt here and there, combined with high doses of salt used to preserve food, can add up to unhealthy levels. More worrisome is the salt used to preserve foods, which contribute to most of the sodium in your diet. U. S. Guidelines are less than 2,300 mg per day (1 teaspoon of table salt).
To help curb your salt intake, be aware of and limit the main processed and prepared foods that are typically high in salt:
- Frozen dinners average 787 mg of sodium.
- Canned vegetables can contain 720 mg of sodium. Rinse the vegetables in water or purchase "no salt added" or "low sodium" canned goods.
- Cold cuts can pack 360 mg in two slices of deli meat.
- Soups such as canned chicken noodle contain as much as 865 mg of sodium.
- Packaged rice, potatoes and pastas with 'flavor packets'.
- Fast foods are high in sodium as are the condiments.
- Pasta sauce has about 600 mg of sodium in a 1/2 cup.
"Jealousy in romance is like salt in food. A little can enhance the savor, but too much can spoil the pleasure and, under certain circumstances, can be life-threatening." Maya Angelou