Sodium & Blood Pressure

Sodium
Ordinary table salt is sodium chloride—40 percent sodium by weight. When we talk about amounts of sodium, we talk in terms of grams and milligrams. A gram is a unit of weight. There are about 28 grams in 1 ounce. There are 5.5 grams in a teaspoon. If you divide 1 gram into 1000 parts, each part is a milligram (mg), or 1000 milligrams equals 1 gram.

Sodium is essential for good health. You must have a certain balance of sodium and water in your body fluids and tissues at all times. Sodium and water work together to maintain this balance—a certain amount of salt maintains this balance - a certain amount of salt maintains the right amount of water in the body and vice versa. Too much salt or too much water will upset the balance. In healthy people, excess sodium is eliminated through the kidneys and the correct balance of sodium and water is maintained.

Why follow a low-sodium eating plan?
The average American consumes about 6 to 18 grams of salt daily (roughly one to three teaspoonfuls). Your body actually requires only about 0.5 grams of salt, or 0.20 grams of sodium, each day. Reducing the amount of sodium you consume may help avoid high blood pressure. People with high blood pressure are more likely to develop heart disease and stroke. Diseases of the heart and blood vessels are the No. 1 cause of death in the United States.

Sources of Sodium
Most foods in their natural sate contain sodium. However, most sodium in our diet is added to food during commercial processing and home preparation. Therefore, in selecting foods for controlled-sodium style, you must be aware of both natural sodium content and added sodium content. When purchasing prepared and prepackaged foods, interpret the labels. May different sodium compounds are added to foods. When these compounds are listed on food labels, it indicates the presence of added sodium. Watch for the words soda and sodium and the symbol Na on labels—these identify products that contain sodium compounds.

Sodium Compounds: Avoid or use sparingly?
Be careful to limit your intake of the first four items.

1. Salt (sodium chloride): Used in cooking or at the table; used in canning
   and preserving.
2. Monosodium (also called MSG): A seasoning used in home, restaurant and
   Glutamate hotel cooking, and in many packaged, canned and frozen foods.
3. Baking Soda (sodium bicarbonate): Sometimes used to leaven breads and cakes; sometimes added to vegetables in cooking; used as an alkalizer
   for indigestion.
4. Baking powder: Used to leaven quick breads and cakes.
5. Disodium: Present in some quick-cooking cereals and process cheeses.
   Phosphate
6. Sodium alginate: Used in may chocolates milks and ice creams to make a
   smooth mixture.
7. Sodium benzoate: Used as a preservative in many condiments such as relishes, sauces and salad dressings.
8. Sodium: Used in food processing to soften and loosen skins of ripe
   hydroxide olives and certain fruits and vegetables.
9. Sodium nitrate: Used in cured meats and sausages.
10. Sodium: Used in pasteurized cheese and in some breads and cakes
    propionate to inhibit growth of molds.
11. Sodium sulfite: Used to bleach certain fruits such as maraschino cherries
    and glazed or crystallized fruits that are to be artificially colored; also used as a preservative in some dried fruits such as prunes.

Dining Out
Americans are eating a greater number of meals away from home than in previous years. Controlling sodium intake need not spoil the pleasure of a restaurant meal, but you will have to be selective in ordering. Consider these tips for meals away from home:

1. Don't use the salt shaker; use the peppershaker or mill.
2. Be familiar with the list of low-sodium foods in this booklet and make your restaurant selections from these items.
3. Avoid menu items that are listed under question two.
4. When you order, be specific about what you want and how you want your food prepared. Request that they prepare your dish without salt.

Drugs

Over-The-Counter Drugs
Some drugs contain large amounts of sodium. Make it a practice to carefully read the labels on all over-the-counter drugs. Look at the ingredient list and warning statement to see if sodium is a product. A statement of sodium content must appear on labels of antacids containing 5 milligrams or more per dosage unit (tablet, teaspoon). Some companies are now producing low-sodium over-the-counter products. If in doubt, ask your physician or pharmacist if the drug is appropriate for you.

Prescription Drugs
Consumers have no way of knowing whether a prescription drug contains sodium. Ask your physician or pharmacist about the sodium content of prescription drugs.