Salt: why is it so bad for us?
Posted on Aug 8th 2006 1:32PM by Kristin DarguzasFiled Under: Celebs & Entertainment, Nutrition & Supplements
My guiltiest pleasure is pretty alarmingly unhealthy. I don't do it very often, but the occasional Saturday morning I will stealthily creep into the nearest McDonald's and devour two hash browns, an extra packet of salt on each one.
I prefer salty over sweet most of the time. It's a guilty pleasure, because we're continually being bombarded by messages about the evils of salt, but really, why is it so evil?
Though the reasons for it aren't clear, high-salt diets can cause high blood pressure, which is a risk for heart and kidney disease as well as stroke. The average American consumes two teaspoons of salt a day. A half teaspoon is recommended for healthy adults.
Experts say that the key to cutting salt from our diets is not to eliminate the salt shaker over those fresh-picked tomatoes. Rather, most of our sodium comes from processed and restaurant foods. And, some salty foods are not as they appear: Cheerios, for example, have more salt than Ruffles potato chips per serving.
That's good to know. So maybe I'll have to give up my McDonald's, but at least I can keep my occasional salt sprinkles.
I prefer salty over sweet most of the time. It's a guilty pleasure, because we're continually being bombarded by messages about the evils of salt, but really, why is it so evil?
Though the reasons for it aren't clear, high-salt diets can cause high blood pressure, which is a risk for heart and kidney disease as well as stroke. The average American consumes two teaspoons of salt a day. A half teaspoon is recommended for healthy adults.
Experts say that the key to cutting salt from our diets is not to eliminate the salt shaker over those fresh-picked tomatoes. Rather, most of our sodium comes from processed and restaurant foods. And, some salty foods are not as they appear: Cheerios, for example, have more salt than Ruffles potato chips per serving.
That's good to know. So maybe I'll have to give up my McDonald's, but at least I can keep my occasional salt sprinkles.
