How's this for alarming stats -- an astounding 80 percent of us are eating more than the recommended daily intake (RDI) of saturated fats every day. That's pretty shocking -- I expected the number to be high but not that high. Considering February is heart health month, I think it's time to face the facts about our saturated fat intake. For the record, the RDI of sat-fat is 20 g per day. Keeping that in mind, consider this:

• One croissant has 20 g of saturated fat
• Eight ounces of cashew nuts has 30 g. So does one-third of a roast chicken.
• If a food has 5 g of sat-fat in a serving, avoid it.
  
• Soft cheese has less sat-fat than hard cheese.
  

Want to know the sat-fat content of some of your favourite foods? Here's a pretty thorough list, and click here for more facts and myths on sat-fat.

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Since I rarely eat meat, getting my RDI of iron is difficult for me, but I know firsthand how important it is -- if I'm not getting enough I get lightheaded and lethargic. The same can happen to you!

According to our friends at Fitsugar, we need 18 mg of Iron per day, and without this, we may be considered anemic. Get your share from the following sources:

• Iron-fortified cereal (1 oz) - 4.5-7 mg
• Soybeans (1/2 cup) - 9 mg
• Sun-dried tomatoes (1/2 cup) - 9 mg
• Pine Nuts (1/2 cup) - 9 mg
• Pumpkin seeds (1/2 cup) - 9 mg
• Oysters (3 oz) - 7 mg
• Spinach (1/2 cup) - 3 mg

Want to know more iron-rich foods? Head over to Fitsugar for the scoop on iron.

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We've all accepted the fact that we need protein. But do you know specifically how much protein you need to be getting as part of a nutritious diet? If you're anything like me, you might not be getting enough. I'll be honest here--I'm not a protein person. I prefer carbs, veggies and fruits to anything else out there, and seeing as I'm not much of a meat eater, it's sometimes a struggle to get my fair share. But I do ok--or at least I though so.

I recently paid attention to what the recommended daily intake of protein is for people depending on their weight. Here's a quick breakdown (to find out your own, just multiply your weight in lbs by .36:)

• If you weigh 100 lbs, you need 36g
• If you weigh 120 lbs, you need 43.2g
• If you weigh 140 lbs, you need 50.4g
• If you weigh 160 lbs, you need 57.6g
• If you weigh 180 lbs, you need 64.8g

That seems like an awful lot, doesn't it? But there's good news--protein isn't only in meat. You can find it in a variety of dairy products, not to mention nuts, beans, lentils and vegetables.

How do you get your protein?

We all know by now that salt is bad for us. But the truth is, it's almost everywhere. How can we reduce the sodium in our diets without reducing the flavour? Mark's Daily Apple has some excellent suggestions that I wanted to share:

1. Make your own condiments and dressings. I make my own caesar dressing and it's twice as tasty with less sodium
2. Watch your portions of salt-rich things. Sushi wouldn't be the same without soy sauce, but because -- it has a ton of salt.
   
3. Avoid cured meats, like bacon and sausages. There's a reason why they're tasty -- added salt!
4. Eat fresh. Avoid those frozen meals and processed foods -- they're salt-heavy.
5. Read the labels, and know what to look for. The RDI of sodium is 920-2300mg per day.

Want to know more? Click here.

How do you reduce salt from your diet?

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