How much salt is too much for your food?
GHENT, WV (WVNS) — Whether you love it or hate it, salt can be found in a majority of foods that people enjoy.
However, at what point does the amount of salt become too much?
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Salt is a common sight on the table for many people, and can also be found in processed foods. While salt and sodium are not bad to have in your diet, consuming too much of them can have negative health affects.
Although the words table salt and sodium are used interchangeably, they are not quite the same. According to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), sodium is a mineral and can be found in salt, and table salt (sodium chloride or NaCl) is a crystal-like compound.
The American Heart Association stated that table salt is around 40 percent sodium and 60 percent chloride, and that some salt and sodium equivalents are a quarter teaspoon of salt is around 575mg sodium, and one teaspoon of salt is about 2,300-2,400 mg sodium.
Salt is often used as a food preservative, enhancing food flavors, baking, and more, but not all sodium found in food comes from salt. Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), monosodium glutamate (MSG), sodium benzoate, and sodium nitrite are also included in the amount of sodium listed on nutrition labels.
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Consuming a high amount of salt and sodium can cause health problems such as high blood pressure (hypertension) and heart issues, according to the American Heart Association. The FDA stated that more than 70 percent of the sodium is from prepared and packaged foods rather than adding salt to food when it is cooking or on the table.
Generally, people eat far more salt than what is advised. According to the CDC, on average, many Americans eat over 3,400 mg sodium each day, when under 2,300 mg sodium daily is the federal recommendation.
Sodium can often come from foods like types of bread, cured meats, lunch meats, soups, cheese, eggs, and more. However, foods no not have to taste salty to contain a lot of sodium. The amount of sodium in salt can also differ depending on the type of salt, as well as if it is coarse or fine. Table salt, sea salt, kosher salt, and more all have different amounts of sodium per teaspoon.
The amount of sodium in different foods can be found on the nutrition label. According to the American Heart Association, for each serving salt/sodium-free foods often have less than five milligrams of sodium, very low sodium has 35 milligrams or less, low sodium contains 140 milligrams or less, reduced sodium has 25 percent less sodium than the usual sodium level in a serving, lightly salted or light in sodium has around 50 percent less sodium than the normal product, and unsalted or no salt added have no additional salt but may contain salt unless mentioned otherwise. However there may be exceptions depending on where the food is from.
The Food and Drug Administration stated that some ways to reduce the amount of sodium you eat are to prepare your own food when possible, read nutrition labels, buy fresh food, add flavor without adding sodium, watch condiments, choose smaller portion sizes, make low-sodium choices at restaurants, rinse some canned foods such as beans to reduce some of the sodium, and watch your vegetables.
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When there is extra sodium in the body, it pulls water into blood vessels, which causes an increase in blood pressure. High Blood Pressure, also referred to as the “silent killer” due to its less obvious nature, can stretch and injure blood vessels over time, as well as make the heart work harder.
Salt might be a good thing to have in moderation, it is a good idea to keep an eye on your salt intake and to be sure that you are not consuming too much.
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