Salt of the Earth
Hi Byte Wellness Fam,
How are you feeling?
I feel joyful.
I’m not sure if it was our long first day of summer, or seeing the heart-warming celebrations for Father’s Day and Juneteenth from last weekend, or our marathon workshop on Wednesday, but I feel good. Can’t wait to keep unpacking our food choices with you.
Speaking of making food choices, check the discussion question below and the #PhyteWellWednesday Workshop recording for a bit more depth on this topic.
Discussion Question
How much faith do you have in the nutrition claims that you find on the front of food packaging (like *low-sodium* or *low-sugar*)
#PhyteWellWednesday Workshop
This week, in the #PhyteWellWednesday Workshop, we went back to the Chipotle nutrition facts. Last week, we searched Chipotle’s nutrition facts for added sugars. This week, we searched for sodium.
If you missed the conversation, make sure you’re on the Daily Wellness Text Thread.
Not on the thread? You can join by texting TEXT to 1(866)717-1919.
Salt and Health
Why Do We Care How Much Sodium is in Our Food?
First, let’s level-set. When we talk about the amount of salt in our food, we’re talking about sodium.
Sodium is a mineral (a type of micronutrient) that is naturally found in foods. It’s also added to food and drink during processing and meal prep.
Our bodies need some sodium to function, because it plays lots of important roles in everyday life.
Sodium sends signals about our hydration status
Sodium acts as a key that opens locks (receptors) that allow chemical reactions to happen
Sodium isn’t a “toxin” or a “bad nutrient”. But, we don’t need much of it.
And, as is the case with most nutrients, eating too much sodium can be harmful. It just so happens that it’s easy to eat too much sodium if you live in the United States.
Lots of the sodium in our food comes from sodium chloride (table salt), but there are other sodium sources, too (like MSG, or monosodium glutamate). In general, all the sodium in our food or drink should be represented on the nutrition facts line for sodium. (See the FDA’s sample nutrition facts label below).
How Is Sodium Connected to Health?
For many people, eating excess sodium is linked to higher blood pressure. In fact, studies of the heart-healthy DASH diet found that participants’ high blood pressure dropped closer to normal when they limited their sodium intake.
We know that living with high blood pressure puts us at risk for heart disease (like heart attack and heart failure) and blood vessel diseases (like stroke, kidney failure, even blindness).
That’s why, for the average person, it’s in our best interest to build eating habits that keep sodium intake at a manageable level.
Watching sodium intake might be even more important for the 50% of Black folks in the U.S who already have heart and blood vessel diseases like high blood pressure or clogged heart arteries (coronary artery disease) or stroke.
For another group of people, daily sodium intake could be a matter of life and death. People who are at risk of fluid-overload because of heart failure, liver failure, or kidney failure could tip their fluid balance in a dangerous direction with one very salty meal.
Fluid overload can show up in our bodies as having swollen legs (edema), or fluid in the abdomen (ascites) or fluid in the lungs (pulmonary edema).
For people with a fluid imbalance, the relationship to sodium intake can be tricky. It’s very important for them to consult their personal doctors about how much sodium they should eat to prevent complications.
How Much Sodium Is Too Much?
Based on the DASH Diet studies, a bunch of scientific agencies (like the USDA and the American Heart Association) have updated their sodium guidelines.
There are two sodium targets to remember:
2300mg of sodium (USDA recommends every adult aim for less sodium than this every day for general health)
1500mg of sodium (American Heart Association recommends people at risk for heart and blood vessel disease aim to eat less sodium than this every day) . The USDA recommends that all Black Americans limit our sodium intake to 1500mg, perhaps because of our increased prevalence of high blood pressure.
High-Sodium Food Groups
According the the American Heart Association, most Americans eat about twice the ideal amount of sodium everyday. And, around 77% of it comes from restaurant and store-bought foods that have had sodium added to them during processing.
That means, we have to learn how much sodium is in our restaurant foods in order to make smart eating decisions that could save our lives. In this case, [nutrient] knowledge really is power.
In the #PhyteWellWednesday Workshop this week, we uncovered some of the highest-sodium foods on the Chipotle menu. Check out the video above to see the details for yourself.
These are some food groups that topped the high-sodium list:
Meat for taco filling or salad topping (like carnitas)
Bread and chips (including the large flour tortilla used in the burrito
Sauce (including salsas and salad dressing)
Looking at this list, you might feel like there’s NOTHING that’s safe to eat if you’re following a low-sodium eating plan. Don’t give up hope just yet.
In the same workshop, we talked about how to get creative by adjusting restaurant serving sizes or using low-sodium seasoning to enjoy our favorite meals without sacrificing our health.
What menu hacks are you using to lower sodium intake from restaurant food?
Tune in to next week’s workshop. We’ll highlight the ways knowledge opens up the power of choice! And, we’ll scour menus to find the lower-sodium, lower-sugar options from our favorite spots.
Happy Healthy Living,
Dr. Wuse