Don't shake it like a salt shaker: Even "healthy foods" have high sodium levels

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A report recently published online by Consumer Reports magazine suggests that even foods that, at first glance, appear to be healthy, contain high levels of sodium.

According to the report, the average American should consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day (or, for those visual folks out there, about a tablespoon of salt). However, most Americans consume between 2,9000 to 4,3000 milligrams per day.

To determine where exactly we’re going wrong, researchers analyzed the sodium content of 37 common supermarket items and found large amounts of sodium in foods that don’t even taste salty. For example, a one-cup serving of Kellogg’s Raisin Bran contains 350 milligrams of sodium, while Prego Heart Smart Traditional Italian Sauce has a whopping 430 milligrams of sodium per half-cup serving.

Looking at so-called low-fat diet foods, meanwhile, the report finds that just one cup of Heart Healthy V8 juice contains 480 milligrams of sodium, while a cup of 1 percent low-fat cottage cheese has 360 milligrams of sodium. Need to put this all in perspective? A large order of McDonald’s fries (which are often so salty that they leave you thirsty for days!) contains just 350 milligrams of sodium.

The researchers conclude that lower-fat products can be higher in sodium, a fact that they attribute to manufacturers efforts to add salt to compensate for any flavor lost when the fat was removed.

But beyond bloat, what kind of damage can a higher-than-recommended sodium intake do? Well, when it comes to the wild world of health, there’s always two sides to every story. On one hand, it has been well-documented that a high sodium diet can increase the risk of blood pressure – a known precursor to heart attack, stroke and kidney disease – as well as asthma, osteoporosis and stomach cancer.  However, there is some debate over whether this is a universal truth. One possibility is the notion of “salt sensitive hypertension,” under which a person’s blood pressure is impacted more than the average person’s in response to a salty meal. In 2006, researchers at the University of Virginia Health Center reported that they had traced this salt-sensitivity back to a gene variant and are working to develop a test that could determine whether someone is in fact salt sensitive.

Either way you look at it, you certainly won’t suffer from reducing your salt intake. The first step? Ditch the salt shaker – there’s generally more than enough naturally-occurring salt in everyday meals. The move that will make the most difference however, is imposing a moratorium on processed foods -- the only thing you have to lose is a ton of salt and other chemicals and preservatives!