Too Much Salt?
Salt is essential to life. As described in the book Salt, in the past it has been precious and it has been a factor in world history. Our bodies attempt to save salt and this begins to become a problem for our heart (with excess fluid causing heart failure for example), blood pressure and edema (swelling, particularly of the feet and ankles, thanks to gravity).
Recently I noticed, after a workout at the gym, that my feet and ankles were swollen like balloons. I had no other symptoms but of course it is a concern because a build-up of fluid can cause heart failure and deterioration of important organs like the liver and kidney can be the cause. My doctor said the solution was simple, either wear “support hose” or take a diuretic. He was not surprised when I opted for the diuretic. I am almost 70 but my mind is not able to deal with “support hose” because it still thinks I am 40. The diuretic did what diuretics do and I lost a lot of fluid but the swelling was still there. I tried not taking each of the vitamins I take, and skipping on various things I figured might have some impact. Nothing worked. A friend, who is a gifted doctor in terms of diagnostic ability said that, since other things could be ruled out, the problem was simply too much sodium. He said that with the diuretic “nothing is free” so while it works it is hard on the liver. With that advice I set out to cut down on sodium in my diet.
I was amazed at the sodium levels in what I was eating. I thought I would pass these findings along, even though my wife tells me that I should have known. I guess I should have but it was still amazing!
We buy bread from a bakery that is wonderful and hand crafted. I eat a lot of this bread, half a loaf a week easy. Usually I would eat the honey white. I decided to ask about the salt. They said the nine grain is not only healthier but it has a lot less salt. The sodium is marked on the label and one piece is about 150 mg. (A daily diet is supposed to include about 2400 mg. ; better according to my doctor friend is to shoot for 2000 mg. if you want to have a low sodium diet.) The bakery said the Nine Grain Bread had half the salt that the Honey White had in it. Who knew? Of course I stopped putting the fancy French salt in scrambled eggs when I eat them. I found that breakfast cereals are loaded with salt. Good news: Oatmeal, which I never liked, has zero. I already knew that any breakfast meat had lots of salt and sodium nitrate so I at least knew to skip that.
For lunch I typically ate a half a sandwich with turkey or ham. I asked at the deli about the sodium in their meat. The data showed 350 mg. for 2 oz. I figure 2 oz. is about two thin slices. The butcher said that brand was good, it was low. I thought “no way” and went to the supermarket to look for low sodium lunchmeat. The “reduced sodium, 40% lower” lunchmeats were about 350 mg. for 1 oz.! This was twice as much as the deli brand! The butcher was right! So with regular lunchmeat the sodium is off the charts. I now eat an avocado, onion and lettuce sandwich on the nine grain bread with a little mayo for lunch.
I used to get a container of prepared pico de gallo (salsa) that is really hot and I thought healthy. The sodium in this is about 350 mg per tablespoon. So I made a salsa from tomatillos, cilantro, jalapenos, lime and garlic that had zip sodium.
I decided I would like to have a can of soup. The reduced sodium soup is way too high, my wife again saying “told you so!”. So I looked at chili. There is no low sodium chili or soup. So I looked at just a can of beans. Finally I got to a can of black beans which has 150 mg. and figured this would be OK, although I wondered why it was necessary to put salt into a can of black beans. With a lot of lime juice and some chopped green onions, this made a decent soup. But again I was amazed that every prepared anything has a ton of sodium.
I thought I would get some olives, what else could be in olives except olives and olive oil, right? Wrong, as my wife again pointed out, I should have known. Olives are pickled in brine and loaded with salt although nothing on the display or container tells you this. I did get some unsalted peanuts in the shell and that made a decent snack.
So foods like limes, avocados, tomatoes, onions, peppers, lettuce and peanuts with no salt became my friend and the swelling in my ankles and feet disappeared like magic. With fish and chicken and even steak it is possible to enjoy these without a whole lot of salt. With pasta you can find some sauces that if used sparingly are OK for salt content. But overall it is amazing to me, and I agree that it was something that I should have known all along, how much salt is in so many things that I was oblivious to until I actually did the math.
I guess I should be glad for the diagnostic of the swelling. Hopefully this message will give fair warning. We have TOO MUCH SALT in our diet!
Salt is essential to life. As described in the book Salt, in the past it has been precious and it has been a factor in world history. Our bodies attempt to save salt and this begins to become a problem for our heart (with excess fluid causing heart failure for example), blood pressure and edema (swelling, particularly of the feet and ankles, thanks to gravity).
Recently I noticed, after a workout at the gym, that my feet and ankles were swollen like balloons. I had no other symptoms but of course it is a concern because a build-up of fluid can cause heart failure and deterioration of important organs like the liver and kidney can be the cause. My doctor said the solution was simple, either wear “support hose” or take a diuretic. He was not surprised when I opted for the diuretic. I am almost 70 but my mind is not able to deal with “support hose” because it still thinks I am 40. The diuretic did what diuretics do and I lost a lot of fluid but the swelling was still there. I tried not taking each of the vitamins I take, and skipping on various things I figured might have some impact. Nothing worked. A friend, who is a gifted doctor in terms of diagnostic ability said that, since other things could be ruled out, the problem was simply too much sodium. He said that with the diuretic “nothing is free” so while it works it is hard on the liver. With that advice I set out to cut down on sodium in my diet.
I was amazed at the sodium levels in what I was eating. I thought I would pass these findings along, even though my wife tells me that I should have known. I guess I should have but it was still amazing!
We buy bread from a bakery that is wonderful and hand crafted. I eat a lot of this bread, half a loaf a week easy. Usually I would eat the honey white. I decided to ask about the salt. They said the nine grain is not only healthier but it has a lot less salt. The sodium is marked on the label and one piece is about 150 mg. (A daily diet is supposed to include about 2400 mg. ; better according to my doctor friend is to shoot for 2000 mg. if you want to have a low sodium diet.) The bakery said the Nine Grain Bread had half the salt that the Honey White had in it. Who knew? Of course I stopped putting the fancy French salt in scrambled eggs when I eat them. I found that breakfast cereals are loaded with salt. Good news: Oatmeal, which I never liked, has zero. I already knew that any breakfast meat had lots of salt and sodium nitrate so I at least knew to skip that.
For lunch I typically ate a half a sandwich with turkey or ham. I asked at the deli about the sodium in their meat. The data showed 350 mg. for 2 oz. I figure 2 oz. is about two thin slices. The butcher said that brand was good, it was low. I thought “no way” and went to the supermarket to look for low sodium lunchmeat. The “reduced sodium, 40% lower” lunchmeats were about 350 mg. for 1 oz.! This was twice as much as the deli brand! The butcher was right! So with regular lunchmeat the sodium is off the charts. I now eat an avocado, onion and lettuce sandwich on the nine grain bread with a little mayo for lunch.
I used to get a container of prepared pico de gallo (salsa) that is really hot and I thought healthy. The sodium in this is about 350 mg per tablespoon. So I made a salsa from tomatillos, cilantro, jalapenos, lime and garlic that had zip sodium.
I decided I would like to have a can of soup. The reduced sodium soup is way too high, my wife again saying “told you so!”. So I looked at chili. There is no low sodium chili or soup. So I looked at just a can of beans. Finally I got to a can of black beans which has 150 mg. and figured this would be OK, although I wondered why it was necessary to put salt into a can of black beans. With a lot of lime juice and some chopped green onions, this made a decent soup. But again I was amazed that every prepared anything has a ton of sodium.
I thought I would get some olives, what else could be in olives except olives and olive oil, right? Wrong, as my wife again pointed out, I should have known. Olives are pickled in brine and loaded with salt although nothing on the display or container tells you this. I did get some unsalted peanuts in the shell and that made a decent snack.
So foods like limes, avocados, tomatoes, onions, peppers, lettuce and peanuts with no salt became my friend and the swelling in my ankles and feet disappeared like magic. With fish and chicken and even steak it is possible to enjoy these without a whole lot of salt. With pasta you can find some sauces that if used sparingly are OK for salt content. But overall it is amazing to me, and I agree that it was something that I should have known all along, how much salt is in so many things that I was oblivious to until I actually did the math.
I guess I should be glad for the diagnostic of the swelling. Hopefully this message will give fair warning. We have TOO MUCH SALT in our diet!
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