Surprising Sources of Sodium

SODIUM – HIDDEN IN YOUR DAILY DIET

Does the sodium count for the soup and sandwich combo above surprise you? And who knew there was so much sodium in salad dressing?

Whether you are on a low sodium diet or trying to increase your intake, understanding where the sodium in your diet comes from can make a huge difference in how you plan your meals. You may be quite surprised to find the hidden places where sodium is found.

Many people are trying to knock sodium out of their diets, sometimes going for as close to sodium-free as possible, to improve their current and long-term health.

On the downside, sodium also depletes the fluids in our cells when we take in too much.  This happens when the kidneys, which normally rid our bodies of excess sodium, cannot keep up. As the level of sodium increases, it pulls more and more fluid into the bloodstream and thereby increases blood pressure. It’s a relatively simple process to understand, yet frequently people don’t know how it works.

READING FOOD LABELS

Seeking out those unknown sources of sodium isn’t as difficult as it may appear. Start with readingfood labels and you’ll be amazed at what you find. The portions and sodium tallies below come from the Center for Disease Control website.

Asparagus, canned (1/5^th can) / 142 mg

Green Beans, canned (1 cup) / 800 mg

Carrots, canned (1/2 cup) / 295 mg

Corn, canned (1/2 cup) / 351 mg

Mushrooms, canned (1/2 cup) / 331.5 mg

Onion, canned (1 cup) / 117 mg

Spinach, canned (1/2 cup) / 29 mg

Sweet potato (1 cup) / 191 mg

Tomato (1 cup) / 307 mg

 

You’ve probably been a little blown away by some of these sodium counts for processed foods. For instance, if you’ve been making a nice three bean salad regularly, you’re probably surprised to find that the canned green beans alone were adding 800 mg of sodium. Yikes!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE TOP TEN SOURCES OF SODIUM IN OUR DIETS

Check out the list below and you may find many items that appear on your daily dietary list.

• Breads and rolls
• Cold cuts and cured meats
• Pizza
• Poultry
• Soups
• Sandwiches
• Cheese
• Pasta dishes
• Meat dishes
• Snacks

So, simply making some changes to these items, will reduce your intake. For instance, you don’t have to eliminate cold cuts or cheese in your sandwich completely. In the picture above there are six slices of turkey and one slice of cheese – either reduce the turkey by 3 slices or cut out the cheese and you’ve already knocked off about 350 mg of sodium.

TABLE SALT AND OTHER SODIUM SOURCES

What is table salt and why aren’t we counting the grams of that? Great question and again the CDC comes to the rescue with a very simple explanation.

“One teaspoon of table salt contains about 2,000 milligrams of sodium. The difference between “sodium” and “salt” can be confusing. Sodium is a mineral found in various foods including table salt. Table salt is 40% sodium (sodium chloride).”

However, beyond ordinary table salt, sodium is in so many other foods that might surprise you. It is a natural ingredient in meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and diary, but also added to our diets, often without thought, in our condiments (i.e. – ketchup – at 167 mg per tablespoon), our baked goods with added salt and baking soda, and all kinds of seasonings. Olives and pickled foods are big sodium culprits.

SODIUM BOMBSHELLS

Here are some real shockers you’ll find when you really start looking:

Cottage cheese – 1000 mg per cup

Pancakes – Wow, about 2,000 mg in an average stack

BBQ sauce – at 300 mg a serving

Deli meat – about 250mg per slice of ham

Breakfast cereals – range from 180-300

Donuts – this sweet treat could costing you big on sodium – averaging around 240 mg

Canned veggies – those that come in sauces really pack on the sodium

Three biggies from WedMd are frozen dinners (a 5 oz. turkey and gravy meal will cost you 787 mg), vegetable juice cocktail at 479 mg per cup and store bought spaghetti sauce with up to 554 mg per serving). They also warn that even though baked or fat-free snacks may be healthier than the regular version as they contain the same amount of sodium.

There all kinds of books available that will give you sodium counts; for use in grocery shopping, meal planning or even eating out. The internet is a huge source of low-sodium recipes as well. So, you’ll have help in becoming a “sodium detective” and searching out those surprising sources of sodium yourself, whether decreasing or increasing sodium in your diet is your goal.

Here’s to finding the easily eliminated but surprising sources of sodium in your diet!