Nutrition
- January 14, 2010
The CDC Pushes for Less Sodium in Restaurant and Manufactured Foods
Sodium is one of the minerals your body requires, but when you consume too much of it, you may be putting yourself at risk for high blood pressure and then for the diseases such as heart disease and stroke that follow it. Sodium is best known for being in salt, but large amounts of sodium are also hidden in processed foods and restaurant foods. In general, Americans eat close to twice the amount of sodium that is recommended by experts. Healthy people don't need more than 2400 milligrams (mg) sodium per day, while those with high blood pressure need to stay below 1500 mg. The Center For Disease Control and Prevention suggests that reducing sodium in restaurant and manufactured food can help reduce sodium consumption for millions of people. You can reduce sodium on your own by following the DASH diet, or simply choosing fresh or frozen foods over heavily processed foods. Just look at the Nutrition Facts label for sodium amounts per serving. Daily Nutrition Tip Photo © Ciny KalamajkaThe CDC Pushes for Less Sodium in Restaurant and Manufactured Foods originally appeared on About.com Nutrition on Thursday, January 14th, 2010 at 12:33:23.Permalink | Comment | Email this
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