Lower Sodium Intake, Lower Risk of Stroke
You may only need to cut a mere half teaspoon of salt from your diet to see a benefit to your heart and brain.
In a dramatic new study, researchers estimate that cutting out just 3 grams a day (about half a teaspoon of salt) could prevent up to 99,000 heart attacks and 66,000 strokes a year.
Unseen Sodium
So what's half a teaspoon? It's the amount most of us probably put in our pasta water. Still, it's unlikely that your pasta water is putting you over the limit. Research suggests we get up to 75 percent of our daily salt intake from processed foods and restaurant meals. In fact, processed and packaged foods have so much sodium that most of us end up eating 8 to 11 grams of salt a day -- more than twice what's recommended.
Lick the Salt Habit
Time to get serious about the sodium in your diet. Try these tips and tricks for kicking salt to the curb:
- Freeze that fast-food fix. Instead of going out, eat in with one of these lower-sodium but tastes-like-takeout frozen entrees.
- Boost your sodium IQ. Find out where the sodium's lurking in your diet with this eye-opening quiz.
- Give nutrition labels the evil eye. Look for these high-sodium buzz words on the ingredients list when buying premade, prepackaged, or canned goods.
- Cook with less salt but more flavor. This cheat sheet shows you how.
Need some inspiration when it comes to low-sodium cooking? Check out this collection of healthy low-sodium recipes from EatingWell.
