The Truth About Salt

Not to sound melodramatic but if there was one post of mine that you should read it is this one. As part of my recovery I have been focusing on a heart healthy diet. Although my disease was not caused by diet it is important for all heart patients to eat and live healthy. In fact it is important for all people to eat and live healthy. Unless you don't want to then I guess you get what you get. One of the major aspects of a heart healthy diet that Kellie and I have been following is limiting our sodium intake. Before my surgery I never paid much attention to sodium or how much I was putting into my body on any given day. All I thought about was fat and calorie intake. Those are the two things we read and hear about all the time. It turns out that limiting one's sodium intake is equally important to overall heart health. Here goes!

According to the American Heart Association a heart healthy diet includes no more than 2300mg of sodium per day. Each food item should not include more than 230mg of sodium per serving. How much is 2300mg of salt? It is equal to 1 teaspoon. Crazy, huh? That doesn't seem like very much of the crystal goodness many of us depend on for flavor. How much sodium does the average American eat a day? Try over 5,000mg on for size. That is according to various reports I've read but my Cardiologist says it's more like 8,000 to 10,000mg a day. Are you kidding me? Did you know you were killing yourself? I didn't. This type of salt intake can and will lead to high blood pressure, increase chance of heart disease, stroke and kidney damage. If you already have heart disease eating too much sodium will make it worse.

The good news is that the average person has 5 pounds of extra weight due to high sodium intake. Water retention ain't just for the pregnant people. If you cut back on salt those extra 5 pounds you've been trying to lose might just drop right off!

Here are a few pointers on how to keep too much sodium out of your diet. First read your food labels. Trader Joe's has a lot of low sodium products. They take some getting used to but after a month or so the pallet adapts. Try and eat at home using fresh ingredients. Each Sunday I cook a lunch meat for the week. Packaged lunch meat and canned soups are filled with salt

For those that eat out all the time you are getting absolutely hosed by sodium. Restaurants are havens for food that are high in fat and sodium. Don't kid yourself and think their salads are any better. They put just as much garbage in those as they do their burgers. Here are a few examples from restaurants that are convenient and for all you parents out there they claim to be "family friendly". Remember 2300mg of sodium per day....

Red Robin

Children's Grilled Cheesewhich: 29g fat, 1604mg sodium. (Are we sure there isn't a steak inside that sandwich? Remember this is on the children's menu. The other options are equally as bad. This doesn't include a side.)

Garden Burger w/out Fries: 18g fat, 1748 mg sodium, 517 Calories. (This is off the "lite" menu. Really...lite? I think not.)

Apple Harvest Chicken Salad: 35g fat, 1366 mg sodium.(YUUMMMMY...lettuce, apples, salt and fat and fat and salt and fat with salt!)

Whiskey River BBQ Chicken Wrap(my old favorite): 81g Fat, 2972mg Sodium....Yes, this is accurate. I wrote an email to Red Robin complaining of their lack of heart healthy options. They replied by telling me that all menu items could be made to order. Therefore I should take an active role in my nutrition. I couldn't agree more. On their website is an option to add and subtract ingredients from each menu item to make them more healthy...so I gave it a try with the old Whiskey River BBQ Chicken Wrap.
Whiskey River BBQ Chicken Wrap w/out cheese, ranch, fried tortilla strips and BBQ sauce: 1331mg sodium.....still ridiculous. I'll try again.(no cheese, no sauce....just chicken, lettuce and a tortilla.)
Whiskey River BBQ Chicken Wrap w/out cheese, ranch, fried tortilla strips, BBQ sauce and chicken. In other words, their tortilla with lettuce and a side of melon: 812mg sodium....over 1/4 of my daily allowance per the American Heart Association. And I get a tortilla, lettuce and 2 slices of melon all for $10...sweet deal. Thanks for the healthy options Red Robin!

According to "Parents Magazine", Red Robin was said to be one of the "10 Best Family Restaurants". I guess if you want your children to eat unhealthy, become overweight, incur high blood pressure, heart disease, kidney failure and die at a young age then this is the place for you.

This is upsetting....so I tried to make myself feel better by looking at the nutritional values of my old staple and healthy option....Subway. I knew in my heart this would be the place to go.

These nutritional values include only bread, meat and assorted vegetables. No sauces, cheese, salt or pepper.

Subway

6" Turkey Breast: 4.5g fat, 1000mg Sodium
6" Veggie Delight: 3 g fat, 500 mg sodium
6" Club: 6g fat, 1290mg Sodium
6" BMT: 21g fat, 1770mg Sodium

Subway is a lot better on the fat and calories but still brutal on the sodium intake. I guess Subway is no longer the healthy option for me. Last of all I looked at McDonald's figuring it would be the worst of the bunch.

Mc'Donalds

Hamburger: 9g fat, 520mg sodium.
Cheeseburger: 12g fat, 760mg sodium
Big Mac: 29g fat, 1040mg Sodium
Ranch Snack Wrap w/Grilled Chicken: 10g fat, 830mg Sodium.
Asian Chicken Salad w/out dressing: 10g fat, 890mg sodium
w/low fat sesame ginger dressing: 12.5g fat, 1630 mg sodium.

McDonald's isn't good but it doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. The point isn't to keep all of you from enjoying a meal out from time to time but be careful. Restaurants are sneaky with their salt. Establishments that market to our children (a big red and yellow bird, golden arches..come on) are indeed killing them. The larger chains have nutritional information at their locations as well as on their websites. Check it out. I bet you will be shocked by what you find. I was!

If you decide to actively lower your sodium intake at first your food will taste bland and in some instances brutal. Stick with it and incorporate various spices and other healthy ingredients to fill up your food with flavor. You'll get used to it and soon too much salt will seem harsh. Trust me I LOVE to eat and I need me some flavor. It took some time but I am now enjoying my new "salt lite" lifestyle. Remember you've got an easy 5 pounds to lose.....maybe more.!!!!

I'm doing great and start working again on Monday.

Take care all,

Steve