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Sodium Content of Food Youre Being Deceived Again
It has come to my attention, based on talking to people about their nutrition concerns, that many of us are completely clueless to how much sodium is in food. Its not your fault. There are many reasons why your perception of the sodium content of a food might be skewed. For one, just because something tastes salty doesnt necessarily mean its high in sodium. Yes, really. Another thing: A product that says "lower in sodium" or "less sodium" does not necessarily have a low sodium content. It may just have less sodium than another similar product but still contain a lot of it. And also, many foods that dont have a salty taste at all might contain more sodium than you think!
Now, theres a caveat with this... because I dont think sodium intake is something you should be overly concerned with. Ive written on this extensively in the past (see The Problem With Salt Restriction, How to Prevent High Blood Pressure, and A Snarky Rant on Sodium and Blood Pressure). Its not as important for keeping a healthy blood pressure as you think it is.
Regardless, there are many people out there who will completely ignore this advice because their doctor and the media say otherwise. Fine. If youre going to worry about sodium intake, I can at least provide you with some useful tips.
Lets play a little game! The other day I went snooping around the grocery store taking pics of food labels. Ive got 5 foods here. Heres how its going to work: I will give you the 5 foods that Ive taken pictures of, but I will only be showing you the unidentified food label with the sodium content. Id like you to try to place the names to their respective sodium levels! Ready, set, go!
Here are your options:
Special K Cereal
Salted Almonds
Regular Lays Potato Chips
Whole Wheat Bread
Salted Butter
And here are your sodium contents:
Take your best guess before scrolling down!! Otherwise youre a dirty cheater.
And the results:
How did you do??? Not well I presume.
Like I said, your taste buds can deceive you!! Foods with added salt like almonds, butter, and potato chips DO NOT in fact contain a lot of sodium! While grain-based processed foods like Special K and whole wheat bread contain MORE sodium than these salted foods. But since we dont taste the salt, we assume its not there. Wrong!
If youre going to worry about sodium, despite my best advice, at least do it right. Always read the label!
Sodium Content of Food Youre Being Deceived Again
 |
| <3 Salt |
Now, theres a caveat with this... because I dont think sodium intake is something you should be overly concerned with. Ive written on this extensively in the past (see The Problem With Salt Restriction, How to Prevent High Blood Pressure, and A Snarky Rant on Sodium and Blood Pressure). Its not as important for keeping a healthy blood pressure as you think it is.
Regardless, there are many people out there who will completely ignore this advice because their doctor and the media say otherwise. Fine. If youre going to worry about sodium intake, I can at least provide you with some useful tips.
Lets play a little game! The other day I went snooping around the grocery store taking pics of food labels. Ive got 5 foods here. Heres how its going to work: I will give you the 5 foods that Ive taken pictures of, but I will only be showing you the unidentified food label with the sodium content. Id like you to try to place the names to their respective sodium levels! Ready, set, go!
Here are your options:
Special K Cereal
Salted Almonds
Regular Lays Potato Chips
Whole Wheat Bread
Salted Butter
And here are your sodium contents:
Take your best guess before scrolling down!! Otherwise youre a dirty cheater.
And the results:
 |
| Salted Almonds |
 |
| Salted Butter |
 |
| Lays Potato Chips |
 |
| Special K |
 |
| Whole Wheat Bread |
How did you do??? Not well I presume.
Like I said, your taste buds can deceive you!! Foods with added salt like almonds, butter, and potato chips DO NOT in fact contain a lot of sodium! While grain-based processed foods like Special K and whole wheat bread contain MORE sodium than these salted foods. But since we dont taste the salt, we assume its not there. Wrong!
If youre going to worry about sodium, despite my best advice, at least do it right. Always read the label!
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