Avian Flu Diary: CDC Grand Rounds: Sodium Reduction

# 5515

Over the past few months – after seeing a gradual rise in my blood pressure – I’ve been working to reduce sodium in my diet. It hasn’t been easy.

Even though I add zero salt while cooking, or at the table (I haven’t owned a salt shaker in years), to my horror I realized that I’ve been consuming at least 3000 - 4000 milligrams of sodium nearly every day.

An amount nearly 20 times higher than the daily requirement, and 2 to 3 times higher than recommended for my age (1500mg)

(Note: The following slides come from the April 2011 Grand Rounds Sodium Reduction: Time for Choice)

The problem is that restaurants, and processed food manufacturers, load up the salt content in their wares and the public literally has little control over their salt intake.

It is sobering to realize that a can of condensed soup can contain more than 2,000 mg of sodium. A single tbsp of soy sauce (of which I used several in my `healthy’ stir fry) contains 600mgs. A slice of `healthy’ pita bread can contain more than 300 mg of sodium, a cup of oatmeal contains 277mg, and a cup of canned tomato sauce contains an absolutely mind blowing 1500mg.

Salt (and hence sodium) is everywhere, and it doesn’t take long to exceed your maximum daily quota. It has become a chronic and insidious public health problem.

True, there are some sodium reduced foods out there. But they are hard to find, more expensive, and frankly . . . very often still have more sodium that I’d like.

The toll that excess sodium takes is enormous, even if largely ignored by society. Consumption of excess sodium drives up blood pressures, and that leads to more strokes, more heart attacks, and more kidney disease.

In fact, it is estimated that excess sodium in processed foods claims hundreds of thousands of lives each year, and drives up health care costs by tens of billions of dollars.

Through diligent use of lower-sodium foods, I’ve managed to get my daily consumption down to around 2000mg a day. Of course, I do most of my own cooking, and only rarely eat in restaurants.

Even so, it hasn’t been easy. And it requires constant vigilance and the reading of every food label.

Manufacturers of processed foods rely heavily on sodium as a flavor enhancer, as a preservative, and to aid processing. They also fear that the public, now used to `salty’ foods, will reject lower sodium products.

But there are ways for manufacturers to reduce sodium content and still retain flavor, safety, and texture.

It just requires the will to do so.

The above information comes from this month’s Grand Rounds presented by the CDC. In addition to the slides (of which I’ve only excerpted a few), you’ll find an hour-long video, some addition shorter videos, and other resources as well.

You can view this latest Grand Rounds presentation on the CDC’s Streaming Health Youtube Channel, along with more than 170 other videos.

For more on sodium reduction, you can read the IOM 2010 report Strategies to Reduce Sodium Intake in the United States.

While perhaps not as `exotic’ a topic as bird flu, Ebola, or even influenza, the toll that hidden excess sodium takes on our society and public health is far greater.

Other Grand Rounds presentations archived, and available for viewing, include: