Anything that
comes out of a box, can, jar, jug or bag has a nutrition label like the one
below.
This top
section of the nutrition label shows the serving size:
Per 4 Crackers (18 g).
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This section shows the nutrition
information per serving or 4 crackers.
The left side shows the nutrients and how much in grams or milligrams are
in one serving: Sodium 45 mg
The right side shows the
percentages (%). This percentage
represents how much of the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) will be consumed in
one serving (4 crackers).
The
RDA is a guideline that the Canadian Food Guide promotes as part of maintaining
a healthy diet.
Use the chart provided below to record both the
sodium mg
and % and
how many servings you consume each day. Just remember that drinks also
have food labels, including milk, so please keep track of all drinks as well.
Click here for printable SODIUM COUNTER
page
How Much Do We Actually Need?
Our bodies require 500mg
(approximately 1/4 tsp) of sodium per day to thrive.
This amount can vary depending on climate and conditioning.
In hot temperatures it is natural to sweat more, excreting sodium in the
sweat. However, your body does adapt
to climate changes and to physical conditioning which decreases the amount of
sodium you lose when sweating. Even
when participating in a vigorous athletic event your body does not need the
sodium replacement that all sport drink manufacturers would have us believe.
As a matter of fact, excess sodium will cause dehydration leaving you
feeling thirstier and reaching for more sport drinks.
Sweating causes dehydration and water should be your choice of drink.
If you have participated in a marathon for up to 4 hours, then it would be necessary to include sodium in your post-event
meal.
The average North American
consumes 5,000 to 10,000mg per day (between 2 - 4 teaspoons).
Recently a news video rated many popular restaurants and the sodium
content in their food and found that most places had up to 3 - 4 days worth of
sodium in one meal. There is hope
that restaurants will someday be forced to add food labels to their menus for
conscientious consumers. One high
sodium meal can affect your blood pressure temporarily, especially if you are
already sensitive to blood pressure fluctuations. The
only whole societies in the world that do not have cardiovascular disease are
societies that still maintain a whole foods diet and have a 500mg, or less,
sodium intake per day. Their sodium
is provided entirely from whole foods; and their blood pressure actually drops
in their senior years rather than rise as North American’s do. Here
in
North America
it is absolutely necessary to pay attention to your sodium intake due to the
high consumption of processed and prepared foods.
The Canadian Food Guild’s
recommendations (the RDA) for sodium, based on the percentages on food labels,
are a maximum of 2300 mg per day; however that's more than 4 times the sodium
actually needed. Therefore,
it is easy to be misled by food labels that advertise low sodium percentages.
20% seems like a reasonable number however it is the equivalent of our
entire daily needs for sodium. Even
at 7% sodium, the equivalent to 1/3 of our daily requirements, consuming 3 or 4
servings in one day is already in excess. Also
keep in mind that some food manufactures base their low percentages on 1 tbsp
serving sizes or 4 crackers; portion sizes so small that it’s hardly worth
having. This is especially true with
sauces, condiments and salad dressings. Look
for products with 0 – 1% sodium if you want to stay within a truly healthy
range. The good news is that many
food manufacturers are attempting to reduce their sodium content, although they
still have a long way to go; it’s all a positive effort.
Some grocery stores are also providing their own brand of ‘no sodium’
products as well. Take the time to
look carefully through your local grocer to find new products that have 0 – 1%
sodium. You may find that simply switching brand names can significantly reduce
your sodium intake.
High
Blood Pressure
This is the most obvious negative result of sodium intake.
The popular belief is that sodium ‘hardens’ the arteries.
A prolonged high intake of sodium can cause a fibrous build-up in the
artery walls making them less flexible and contributing to the pressure. Hardening
of the arteries, however, is more associated with plaque build-up.
Plaque itself is not related to excess sodium; albeit, prepared,
processed and junk foods are definitely associated with both plaque and high
sodium. The true effect of excess
sodium is water retention, or bloating.
Every time there is excess sodium in your diet, all
cells in the body become bloated; this includes
the cells lining the arteries and blood cells flowing through them.
If the artery walls are ‘bloated’ and the blood cells pushing through
these arteries are ‘bloated’ then there is naturally going to be added pressure.
This pressure has a wear-and-tear affect on the arteries causing damage;
especially to the capillaries which are the very ends of the arteries that
exchange the nutrients transported in the blood.
Damage to the capillaries will eventually inhibit blood flow and the
exchange of nutrients needed to nourish all parts of the body.
There can obviously be a ‘point of no return’ from the damaging
affects of high blood pressure. Excess sodium also affects the functionality of all
other organs; other organs that when sluggish can have their own contribution to
blood pressure.
Children are the most
susceptible to high blood pressure even though their symptoms do not appear
until later in life. This
information is imperative for parents to keep in mind when choosing what kind of
diet your children will grow up on for two reasons: One, that you teach them
dietary habits that will likely stay with them for life; Second, poor choices
now will only set them up for life long health issues.
High blood pressure is normally considered a ‘seniors’ disease but is
now becoming a disease for 20 and 30 year olds; even teenagers are now being
diagnosed with high blood pressure. The
Canadian Health Committee has already concluded that for the first time our
children will not have the same life expectancy as us or our parents.
Why? What we provide them
with is a foundation of health that they either thrive from or deteriorate from.
It is the nutrition quality during their development years that makes the
biggest difference in the strength of this foundation and entirely affects the
rest of their lives. A week
foundation does not provide them with much of a cushion to stave off future
disease or ailments. Our Grandmas
were at home cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner from scratch with whole foods
grown locally. Many of our Moms were
also at home cooking that way for us. Our
generation, however, changed the dynamics of family life and now both parents
are out working and our priorities in family life have changed.
This change has created the desire for processed and prepared foods –
quick and easy after a long day! Long
term detrimental affects of a high processed diet can lead to permanent health
issues like high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease, kidney and liver
malfunction, diabetes, etc. We
may not be able to change the new dynamics of family life, nor do we want to; however, we can still prioritize
healthy living. It is a lot easier
to prevent high blood pressure by being a little more conscientious every day
than it is to try and control high blood pressure with a necessary extremely low
sodium diet. It’s not as easy as
you think to stick with a 500mg (or less) sodium diet when your deteriorated
health depends on it.
As a matter of fact, a restricted diet less then 500mg does not allow for
ANY processed foods at all. So the
consensus is to take a little care now or struggle indefinitely in the future
– something no parent would want for their children.
Obesity
and Weight Management
Our bodies are an organic
system, an intricate machine that is multi-functional.
Each part of the system works together to create homeostasis, or perfect
balance; only in homeostasis can the body function optimally.
The body will react in any way it needs to create this state.
For instance, if there is a nutrition imbalance the body will ‘crave’
what it needs in an attempt to bring it back in balance.
Our nutritional requirements are water, carbohydrates, protein, fats and
vitamins/minerals; in that order are the quantities needed in relation to each
other to maintain balance. Water is
needed in the highest quantity, while vitamins/minerals are needed in the
smallest quantity. Sodium is a
mineral; if we take in excess sodium then all other nutrients - water,
carbohydrates, proteins and fats - will be out of proportion in comparison and
therefore your body will ‘crave’ those foods to bring back balance.
In other words, excess sodium creates hunger.
To makes matters worse, foods that generally contain the most sodium are
the processed foods that provide very little nutrient value and are generally
loaded with either fat or sugars or both; making it impossible to bring about
balance. Obese people often find
themselves in a vicious circle of endless eating and can’t understand why they
continue to always feel hungry. Every
nutrition expert always says that balance is the key to health.