By now most of us know that a high-salt diet is a major risk factor for hypertension, stroke, and heart attack. And it increases your weight. The body has a mechanism for keeping the salt level in the blood and tissues constant. If you eat a lot of salt, the body dilutes the blood and tissue fluids by retaining more water. But did you realize that the average American consumes twenty to thirty times more salt than his or her body needs? And that’s if you never pick up the salt shaker.
Nearly 80 percent of our daily salt intake comes from hidden sources like prepared foods, including fast food. Consider the “healthy” McDonald’s McVeggie sandwich. It contains 1,200 milligrams of salt, 80 percent of the upper recommended daily limit. McDonald’s is hardly alone. You can easily get a day’s worth of salt (or more) in a single meal at virtually any restaurant chain. It’s almost impossible to avoid salt when you eat out.
You can help lower your salt intake by choosing fish instead of a burger or chicken. For example, a McDonald’s filet of fish has 640 mg. of sodium versus 1,140 mg for a Double Cheeseburger and 1,210 mg for a Premium Grilled Chicken Classic. A baked potato (one of nature’s best sources of heart-healthy potassium) is much better for you than french fries. More realistically, since most restaurant food is awash in salt, you should plan on cutting back on processed, packaged, and other salt-rich foods when you’re eating at home, where you can control the ingredients. If you are salt-sensitive or have blood pressure problems, a good general rule for healthy eating is this: If you eat fast food today, don’t eat any food that’s packaged in a can or box tomorrow.
