Question

What are the major sources of sodium in the diet of the U.S. population? (Give specific examples).

Describe ways in which consumers can lower intakes of salt in their diets.

Describe the major sources of sodium in YOUR diet? (Give specific examples like "For breakfast today I had two biscuits with country ham. Those are very salty and contain approximately __ mg of sodium in each one).

Describe how you can lower the intake of sodium in YOUR diets. (Give specific examples like "Instead of eating country ham & biscuits for breakfast, I could have a bowl of Cheerios cereal & LF milk).

Answer 1

Major sources of sodium in the diet of US population:

Sodium is an important mineral needed by the body for the smooth working of muscles and nerves and also for maintaining the blood volume and blood pressure. It is found in all most all natural food items , so there is no need of adding it to the food. But we add it for making the food tastier. As a result of this extra consumption, many health problems may occur in humans.

Major Sources of Sodium in American diet are:

* Bread and rolls ( 7%)

* Sandwiches and Pizza ( 4- 4.9%)

* Soups ( 4.5%)

* Cured meats/ cold cuts ( 5%)

* Snacks like popcorn, chips ( 3%)

* Cheese ( 3.5%)

* Pasta dishes ( 3.4%)

( % indicates the amount of Sodium supplied by the food items, when considering a person's total sodium intake).

Ways to lower intake of salt:

Increased Sodium consumption may cause high blood pressure and associated disturbances . The ways to cut sodium from daily diet are:

* Homely fresh foods: 75% of Sodium, that we consume comes from outside food or processed food. Consume Food, that is Freshly prepared at home.  

* Avoid packaged and processed foods, instead consume more fresh vegetables and fruits.

* Avoid canned soups, fries , sodas which are abundant in Sodium.

* Read the nutrition fact label of packaged food items and select low sodium content food.  

* Rinse canned foods well, that contain sodium such as tuna, vegetables etc.

* Add spices to food instead of salt to add taste to the food.  

* Lessen the food intake or munching on snacks.

* Replace the food items that is rich in salt with food that less in Sodium.  

For example: My morning breakfast was ,

Cheese sandwich and egg:

Sodium content: 734 mg ( Cheese sandwich) and 70 mg( egg).

Total sodium amount from breakfast = 804 mg

I can replace the breakfast with low sodium food items like :

Creamy Porridge with spiced apple : ( 360 kcal)

Sodium: 200mg

Total sodium amount: 200mg.

or Zucchini bread with fruit slices or Omlette

Zucchini bread : 1 slice - 260 mg Sodium  

Omlette : 100 to 150 mg Sodium

Total= approximately 400mg