90 percent of Americans eat too much salt: study

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   pisean282311posted 14 years ago

   Only one in 10 Americans keep their salt intake within recommended levels, with the rest overstepping the limits and risking high blood pressure and heart ailments, a CDC report said Thursday.
   
   The Atlanta, Georgia-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found the average daily sodium intake of Americans was 3,466 milligrams, twice as much as recommended in health authorities' guidelines.
   
   Americans in good health are advised to consume less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, while people with high blood pressure, all middle-age and older adults and all African-Americans should limit their intake to 1,500 milligrams. The CDC study found that only 9.6 percent of the US population fall within the sodium intake guidelines, including 5.5 percent of the group limited to 1,500 milligrams and 18.8 percent of the 2,300 milligrams per day group.

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      relacheposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      FTFY

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      cosetteposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      
      that sounds plausible, considering there are 2,300 milligrams of salt in just a teaspoon. people eat a lot of processed food, much of which is loaded with salt, so it adds up fast.
      
      a good way to consume less salt is to avoid processed or packaged foods as much as possible, and use very little salt when cooking. oh, and drink lots of water!

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      prettydarkhorseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Hi pisean, This is I think due to the type of foods sold in WalMart, salty type of foods and preserved, many preservatives -- and salt is a good preservatives
      
      Plus the way of life is fast, and so the canned foods and preserved foods are the ones consumed
      
      Foods which are considered junks are famous like salty -- chips, sweets -- donuts, chocolates etc
      Still, moderation is good and personal choices and lifestyle plays an important factor in the choice of food

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   Rod Marsdenposted 14 years ago

   You can cut salt out of your diet by not adding it to your food only to discover that it is already in a lot of packaged and canned foods to either add taste to the product or as a preservative.

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   Mishaposted 14 years ago

   I frankly don't give a rats ass about health authorities guidelines

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      pisean282311posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      

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      Greek Oneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      you know what tastes REALLY good??
      
      dipping a rat's ass in salt!

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         Mishaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for the recipe Greek, I'll give it a try as soon as I manage to catch a rat

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      logic,commonsenseposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      My thoughts exactly, Misha!
      None of their damn business what I eat and how much I exercise or anything else for that matter!

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   Cagsilposted 14 years ago

   I would have to say that 90% is a bit too much to swallow, considering 13.5% of Americans are homeless.
   
   There is no way for them to claim it is accurate, simply because they cannot even guarantee the numbers of homeless in America is accurate.
   
   Pathetic studies that touch on specific things, what a waste of time.

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      pisean282311posted 14 years agoin reply to this

      well u do have point..

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      psycheskinnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I don't have trouble with the figure, homeless people don;t generally get to eat a lot of fresh, unprocessed foods.  But I do wonder where you get the 13.5% figure from.  *That* seems a bit off.

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         Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I am sure it does.

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            psycheskinnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Meaning what?  You made it up?

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   SomewayOuttaHereposted 14 years ago

   ...i bet the rate is quite high....many people eat a lot of processed food...canned etc.  and those canned ingredients contain an awful lot of salt.  not sure about how much is in fast food or any food not made with fresh ingredients at home...i do know it is quite high.

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   kerrygposted 14 years ago

   That figure doesn't surprise me at all. There's added salt in all kinds of processed foods and restaurant meals that don't need to have salt added to them. The only way to really control the amount you eat is to cook everything from scratch and ignore the salt recommendations in recipes, which are also almost always too high, especially if any of the other ingredients, like canned chicken broth or soy sauce, contain salt of their own.

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   Sally's Troveposted 14 years ago

   90% of Americans eat too much salt because 90% of Americans eat too much processed food, of which salt is a prime ingredient (as other posters mention). The study result is no surprise.

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      Rod Marsdenposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Agreed Sally. The same could be said for Australians and people living in the UK.

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         Sally's Troveposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Rod, you are right, the processed food problem doesn't belong only to Americans, it belongs to any country where food preparation in the home is no longer a priority (or necessity) while business/capitalism/jobs/technology/ or any combination of those are.
         
         I was very surprised to learn recently that canned beans are not commonly available in India, where beans are a staple of the diet of many regions of the country. Canned beans contain added salt. I suppose that lack of availability will change in time, and perhaps in a short time, given India's economic growth, and so too will change the amount of salt Indians consume.
         
         Progress.

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      Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      And 90% eat too much processed food because some are lazy, some are ignorant and the rest are just too hopelessly stupid to understand that you really are what you eat.
      
      Personally, I love the "Something has to kill you" attitude I hear so often.  Or the amazing ignorance of "Oh these studies are always changing their minds - one day it's good for you, the next  it isn't, I just eat what I want!"
      
      Yeah - and I only had to look at them to know that!
      
      But please, all of you who think food doesn't matter : go right on eating junk.  Gulp down those soft drinks, add all the salt you want, eat empty calories, pack on the pounds and never go near a gym.
      
      It just means Social Security lasts longer for me.

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   RogerADposted 14 years ago

   Don't think I have ever really been a fan of salt and would certainly fall into the 10% side of things.
   
   I use it in cooking, but this is very moderate and I almost never use it as a supplemental seasoning. Well, except on corn. Gotta have salt on the corn...

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   Research Analystposted 14 years ago

   It makes sense to me, since most households work 2 or more jobs and they do not have time to sit down and prepare their meals from scratch or use fresh ingredients.
   
   Most families buy packaged, frozen and canned foods where salt is used as a preservative, even foods that have sugar in them also have salt, not to mention eating out at fast food restaurants, I have seen mothers feed their babies McDonald french fries.
   
   So unless families become organic and grow their own fresh fruits and vegetables the salt consumption will continue to get worse.

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    Uninvited Writerposted 14 years ago

    It amazes me how much sodium there is in diet frozen dinners.
    
    I do like salt but I am trying to cut down on it, just for my own health.

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    lovelypaperposted 14 years ago

    I would be one of those people who eat too much salt. Salt is good but I do think it's better to reduce your intake a little for health reasons.

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    awareposted 14 years ago

    can i eat my salt ?   mom cutting meat .

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    livelongerposted 14 years ago

    From what I've read, only 30% of those with high blood pressure should reduce their sodium intake, and that's only 10% of the population.
    
    The other 80% "overconsuming" sodium can continue to do so to their heart's content.

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       psycheskinnerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       It does have other health implication beyond blood pressure.

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    Sally's Troveposted 14 years ago

    hmmmmm...The SS twist. I hadn't thought about it that way.
    
    We're in trouble with SS here, and the ingestion of salted processed foods (not to mention what other things are in those foods) does change the stats tables (if processed foods are linked to early death) and thus the eventual distribution of SS funds to those who have a healthy diet.
    
    Some politician ought to be designing a campaign around this.

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       Pcunixposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Actually, and unfortunately, the extra medical care these idiots require more than wipes out the savings we get from them dying early.

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          Sally's Troveposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          It's a double-edged sword.

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    gracenotesposted 14 years ago

    I have very low blood pressure (lowest reading ever was 90/60).  It seems unaffected by anything.  I don't worry about salt.
    
    Even so, I'm cooking about 85% of my meals in-house, and that's a good way to cut down on sodium.  I feel free to use my salt shaker with a free hand, because whatever I use is nothing, compared to the amount of salt in processed foods and restaurant cuisine.

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    CYBERSUPEposted 14 years ago

    This is exactly why obesity among adults is soaring in the United States. Salt consumption is a major factor. Of course over eating and not exercising also contributs to obesity as well.

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    Polly Cposted 14 years ago

    Even a slice of shop bought bread can have 0.5 grams of salt in, and an adult should only have 6 grams per day. So a sandwich made with two slices of bread will have 1 gram before any filling is added. That's not good, and children are only supposed to have 4 grams, between the ages of 5 and 10.
    
    It is processed foods which are to blame. I have read all about salt intake as I have a young child of two, and babies and young children should have even less. Things like pasta sauce can have almost a gram in quarter of a jar.
    
    Though I would just like to add that my late grandmother put so much salt on top of her meals (it would seem like she was shaking the salt cellar forever!) and she lived to be 97 without health problems.

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