Sodium in our foods

[Drew99GT]

As someone who has high blood pressure and is trying to cut back on the sodium, I am BLOWN AWAY at the sodium levels in most restaurants. Fast food - forget about it. A Chipotle burrito has over 2,000 mg! Look at the sodium level of most any chain restaurant. Heck, the spaghetti and meatballs at most restaurants is well over 2,000 mg of sodium. It's really starting to annoy me. This HAS to be one of the main contributors to our lackluster health as a country and the almost pandemic levels of cardiovascular problems Americans face.

I for one would embrace some form of restriction on sodium levels. I mean, come one! If you cut just half the sodium out of our foods, how much worse is it going to taste? (most of it tastes like rat poisoning anyway) Trans fat and other well known substances known to harm human beings are being weeded out of food - it's time to limit our sodium levels in food. 90% of restaurants do not have low (ie REASONABLE) sodium options.

Just my

 

[HTSS_TR]

Most of the dishes I had at almost all restaurants are too salty, and I saw many customers added more salt to their orders.

 

[simple_gifts]

Quote:

2000mg.


That is the USRDA; you should thank the restaurant for providing you will a full day's requirement of a necessary nutrient.

 

[sparkplug]

Yeah. I don't EVER eat out. If I do it's rare. My system is extremely sensitive to sodium. Water pills do their job! Yeah, we need to restrict some aspects of our diet. Trans fats, sodium, high fructose corn syrup, ect. But then again we eat like pigs. America DOES have an eating problem I'm sorry to say. Sorry turn mention the obesity problem but the consumer needs to control themselves. It's on the verge of pure gluttony the way some people eat. But to add to the thread yes, we need to restrict some ingredients in our foods. Vegetarians can have a special portion of the menu, why not people with high blood pressure or diabetes?

 

[Drew99GT]

Originally Posted By: simple_gifts
Quote:

2000mg.


That is the USRDA; you should thank the restaurant for providing you will a full day's requirement of a necessary nutrient.



I said over 2,000 mg - in one meal. Most people who aren't conscience of these things are getting Way over 3,000 mg, when the daily recommended allowance is under 2,400 mg - under 1,500 for people with even pre-hypertension, which is a huge chunk of our population.

Macaroni Grill's spaghetti and meatballs is 5,290 mg of sodium. That is INSANE.

 

[simple_gifts]

Quote:

That is INSANE.


That is a fact.

 

[sprintman]

Just do what we do and have done for years "no MSG, no salt please". After a long time salt free you will taste the food as it should be unless you smoke then no tastebuds anyway.

 

[PT1]

If you are serious about lowering BP you can't eat at restaurants very much. Fast food? Forget it. Time for the salad bar...

 

[Dave Hess]

Just cook your own food at home, you will save money and eat healthier. Ask your wife not to buy junk food when she goes shopping.

 

[Drew99GT]

And some facts are insane (and unhealthy).

I'd have no problem if restaurants had a low sodium portion in their menus (some do), but since the vast majority of them don't, and the AMA is stating that most people should be under 1,500 mg a day to stay healthy.

I know, some "free market" folks think you should have the choice to have your french fries cooked in lard and trans fat, with added PCBs if you so choose. Fine. I should have the choice to have sane levels of sidium in my food.

No more eating out for me on the level I have in the past.

 

[GROUCHO MARX]

Never understood the addition of salt in the kitchen when the shaker is on the table.

The wife used to add salt before even tasting the food, she does this no longer.

I stopped adding salt 30 years ago, that doesn't mean it isn't in my meals.

 

[gathermewool]

I think the key here is portion control. A lot of times I share a meal with the gf, and we'll still find ourselves overly full when we're done. I'm slowly breaking the habit of having to finish everything in front of me, which is a carry over from my childhood when I wasn't allowed to leave the table until I had finished my dinner. Now, I'll either leave it or, if it's a good portion, take it home with me.

While the contents of some of these meals is outrageous, I don't find it to be out of control. What's wrong with America's health isn't the fast food places and restaurants, but us Americans, who can't seem to home or limit our intake of food. It's so much easy and satisfying to fill your belly than to simply sustain yourself. If we were shown how little we needed for simple sustenance I think we'd all be shocked.

When I eat like [censored] and don't exercise my body tells me - This is easy to do on second or third shift. When I eat well -including a night out now and again - I feel so much better.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
As someone who has high blood pressure and is trying to cut back on the sodium, I am BLOWN AWAY at the sodium levels in most restaurants. Fast food - forget about it. A Chipotle burrito has over 2,000 mg! Look at the sodium level of most any chain restaurant. Heck, the spaghetti and meatballs at most restaurants is well over 2,000 mg of sodium. It's really starting to annoy me. This HAS to be one of the main contributors to our lackluster health as a country and the almost pandemic levels of cardiovascular problems Americans face.

I for one would embrace some form of restriction on sodium levels. I mean, come one! If you cut just half the sodium out of our foods, how much worse is it going to taste? (most of it tastes like rat poisoning anyway) Trans fat and other well known substances known to harm human beings are being weeded out of food - it's time to limit our sodium levels in food. 90% of restaurants do not have low (ie REASONABLE) sodium options.

Just my

Well, duh. It's what healthy, observant people have been pointing out for years. Not exactly a revelation.

Limiting sodium is simple-don't eat high sodium foods (most restaurant and most prepackaged food). There are a lot of low sodium options if you prepare your food yourself.

And if it tastes like rat poison to begin with, why would you eat it in the first place?

 

[Shannow]

Interesting trends in Oz.

When the whole Fastfood (read maccas) issue hit the US, Maccas were explaining to Australians that people visited their restaurants for the flavour and taste, and that to remove fat and calories would detract from the experience.

While arguing that, the standard burgers magically lost nearly 20% of their fat.

Salt has been in the media for a little while now, and I've seen Potassium sneaking into the low salt stocks and what not.

Was surprised when bought some potato crisps leading up to Christmas, and Potassium was 3-4 times sodium, which was down to a few hundred milligrammes per 100g.

 

[SteveSRT8]

if it comes in a box you are generally better off eating the box!

 

[benjamming]

Originally Posted By: Drew99GT
I know, some "free market" folks think you should have the choice to have your french fries cooked in lard and trans fat, with added PCBs if you so choose. Fine. I should have the choice to have sane levels of sidium in my food.

No more eating out for me on the level I have in the past.


I would be one of those free market folks, from the other side of the coin though. I would think most would view this as microevolution. The dumb eat stuff that kill them sooner. One of the problems is all of the safety nets we put in place.

 

[CivicFan]

Originally Posted By: GROUCHO MARX
Never understood the addition of salt in the kitchen when the shaker is on the table.

The wife used to add salt before even tasting the food, she does this no longer.

I stopped adding salt 30 years ago, that doesn't mean it isn't in my meals.


I think the chains get their foods pre-prepared and simply warm them up for the final plate. Salt has two functions - it helps preserve the food during transport and hides odd tastes when served to the customer.

While salt is a necessary nutrient and does add taste to the food, I also think that the amount of salt in restaurant food, frozen meals in stores and processed food items in stores contain WAY too much salt. The safest way is to cook your own meals but a large proportion of the people in the country do not have time to do so.

 

[panthermike]

I don't ever add salt to my things, food usually tastes good to me as it's prepared. I do however have a problem w/ HFCS, i.e. Soda. I'm trying to kick the habit but its been hard.

 

[Ray Garlington]

Salt is added by PROFESSIONAL chefs in the kitchen because it makes their meals taste better. Their goal is to create something that tastes good to the majority of people who will eat it.

Quote:
This HAS to be one of the main contributors to our lackluster health as a country and the almost pandemic levels of cardiovascular problems Americans face.


The main contributors to bad health in the US are chronic over-eating and lack of exercise. Salt is not something that causes a problem on its own in an otherwise healthy individual, and most people do not need to reduce salt intake. IF YOU ALREADY HAVE A PROBLEM, salt restriction has been shown to help reduce blood pressure.

 

[benjamming]

Originally Posted By: CivicFan
The safest way is to cook your own meals but a large proportion of the people in the country do not have time to do so.


They have the same amount of time everyone else does - 24 hours every day then repeat. Most people don't make it a priority, & therefore, don't schedule time for it.