How much salt do YOU eat?

[Big_K]

I consider myself to eat healthily most of the time, plenty of fruit and veg, watch my saturated fat intake, and make sure i keep my salt low.

Well, at least i thought i kept my salt low, i don't put any extra on my food, avoid foods that i know are high in salt anyway (such as salt and vinegar crisps...mmmm) and generally try to keep an eye on things.

Today i added up the salt content of everything i have eaten that gave me an analysis and came up with 10 grams. 10 grams!

Bear in mind if you will, this is from tuna (in spring water), bread (would you like some bread with your salt sir?), sliced chicken, my damned chocolate desert thingy had salt, my shortbread had salt, practically everything i have eaten has had salt in.

The recommended UK intake is 6 grams a day, and 9 grams is considered unhealthy, i'm way past this without even realising. It has definatly been an eye opener, i'll be checking how much i take in considerably more carefully from now on. I do drink alot of water, so that does help some with this intake, but with the amount of food we eat, it's easy for things to add up.

Try it for yourself, some of you may be suprised, how much salt do you eat a day?

 

[dragonfire101]

Add this up: your chances of dying in a car accident is higher than of salt intake that will lead to a heart attack.

Maybe a typical person who is healthy and does not take gear. Don't think for a minute that a person taking gear with high sodium levels won't impact their blood pressure to a point that it won't harm them. Its will!

I use a salt substitute containing potassium chloride,sodium chloride, calcium cabonate and magnesium oxide.If your not going to reduce salt at least add potassium and magnesium to get a better balance of electrolytes.


Abstract from article I read:

Mammals normally consume more potassium than sodium (table salt is about 40% sodium). Dr. Henry Blackburn, a professor of physiology at the University of Minnesota's Medical School, points out that the human kidney is a marvelous organ for maintaining the delicate balance between sodium and potassium in. However, because humans first developed in Africa where sodium has always been scarce, our kidneys were designed to retain, not excrete sodium.

One of the greatest changes in human diets from ancient times to the present has been the switch from ancient diets rich in potassium and low in sodium, to modern diets high in salt. A typical prehistoric forager's diet of 3,000 calories, coming 60% from fresh plant foods (leaves, nuts, tubers, berries, fruits) and 40% from meat (large game, birds, fish, eggs, reptiles) would contain about 7,000 mg of potassium and 900 mg of sodium. By comparison, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences Food and Nutrition Board reports that the average American is now consuming 6000-18,000 mg of salt per day. That, they say, is about 6-10 times too much sodium in the typical American diet that already lacks sufficient potassium.

Medical researchers believe that high sodium use, especially among people who have a genetic predisposition to retain much of the sodium they eat, is a primary cause of high blood pressure. Years ago some believed that the high levels of salt use in our diets resulted from a human craving for sodium. Today, most medical doctors believe that our salty diets are based strictly on an acquired taste, not on any type of physiological need.

Additional evidence links high blood pressure with high levels of salt use. Statistics reveal that the incidence of high blood pressure is greatest in countries with the highest per capita consumption of salt. Likewise, problems of high blood pressure do not seem to exist among many cultures with diets that are traditional low in salt and high in potassium, such as the diets of the Yanomami of Venezuela, the Inuit of the Arctic, the San of the African Kalahari, and natives in areas of Polynesian that have not been affected by tourism. I believe the evidence is overwhelming. One reason our ancient ancestors were so healthy is that they were free from the health problems caused by high blood pressure because their potassium-rich diets contained little salt

 

[km2000]

ya mine is probably on the higher side too,i enjoy salty food much more than sweets!, i do use sea salt in everything i add salt to, it supposed to help......

 

[BALDNAZI]

Salt

I will agree with the sea salt KM good shit!

I will say that I throw salt on my post workout meal, sodium is very important p/w try it. The rest of the day I avoid it as much as possible.

 

[Tyrone]

I will agree with the sea salt KM good shit!

I will say that I throw salt on my post workout meal, sodium is very important p/w try it. The rest of the day I avoid it as much as possible.

I have sea salt and just need to use it in place of the other seasoning salt...I know my sodium intake is higher than what it should be...time to drop it.

 

[dragonfire101]

They sell product called NO SALT at most grocery stores which is potassium chloride. Sea Salt is good stuff. I usually sprinkle a combination of Sea Salt and No Salt on my food if I don't have my Salt Substitute that I described above.

 

[Big Danny]

I never put extra salt in any foods. I do not feel like doing it. I realy enjoy the natural taste of food. I am sure that I got all my necessary salt intake from food and drink.

 

[aw1218]

KCL tastes a little bitter, but it is good though

 

[Big_K]

I will definatly have to pick up some potassium salt on my next shopping trip!

 

[Amazon Doll]

I added up the amount of sodium I get in all my foods and it was only 25% of the MDR.

I eat fresh meat, veggies and some fruit. On occasion I eat some rice.
No processed foods and that is where the salt is.

Now I add 1 1/2 tsp of iodized salt to my diet every day to get enough.