The American Heart Association just shared some interesting news on how to help our hearts be healthier with very minimal effort on our part:
"For every gram of salt Americans cut from their diet, there would be 250,000 fewer new cases of heart disease and more than 200,000 fewer heart-related deaths in the next 10 years."
This very slight decrease in the amount of salt, said to be "hardly detectable in the taste of food" can have dramatic health benefits for the U.S.
"Currently, Americans eat 9-12 grams of salt per day" (or 3600-4800 mg of sodium), which outweighs the current recommendation of 5-6 grams of salt, or 2000-2300 mg sodium per day.
Where is all of this salt coming from in our diets? "Americans consume up to 75 percent of their sodium from processed foods like tomato sauce, soups, condiments, canned foods and prepared mixes."
One trick of the trade:
A excellent gauge when you are buying pre-packaged foods is to make sure the sodium content on the Nutrition Label is less than 5% DV (daily value). If the product contains more than 20% DV of sodium...try to find another alternative!
Do you have any other ideas how we can protect our heart with reducing our sodium intake?