That's Fit

I once heard that if a person is deprived of salt for a long enough period of time, they will develop zombie-like characteristics (sans the desire to much on brains, of course). I have absolutely no idea how true this is (my guess is not even remotely), so for all you big brothers out there who are already masterminding the next trick to play on your little brother, I wouldn't go ditching all the salt just yet. Besides, we need salt in our diets for our bodies to function properly. However, we clearly have little to worry about in terms of turning into catatonic nightwalkers. In fact, the opposite is the real problem -- we eat far too much salt.

Studies show that most people consume much more sodium than the RDA of 4,000mg. And it's not because we're dousing our food with the white stuff (although I'm sure that doesn't help); rather, it's because many of the foods we're eating are already very high in sodium. Just a quick look at some of the following foods are a solid indication of that fact.

• 2 tablespoons of Italian dressing = 500mg
• 2 handfuls of potato chips = 360mg
• Large glass of tomato juice = 1,300mg
• 2 tablespoons of soy sauce = 2,000mg
• 8 slices of salami = 1,800mg
• 85g of blue cheese = 1,550mg

So, to avoid the possibility of turning into a zombie-like version of your former self, be sure to include an adequate amount of sodium in your diet. But, to maintain overall health and wellness, take stock of how much salt you're actually eating, as it's likely that you're already getting far more than what is recommended.

Pinch of Salt is a low-sodium version of four classic snacks -- Ruffles Potato Chips, Lay's Potato Chips, Fritos Corn Chips, and Tostidos Tortilla Chips. By "low" sodium, I mean 75 milligrams per one-ounce serving -- that's about 14 chips or 34 Fritos. Given a daily max of 2,400 milligrams, this low dose hardly makes a dent. And it's far better than the 180 milligrams that come with the classic versions. Now if fat is a concern for you, you might want to exercise some restraint before tearing open one of these Frito-Lay bags, which also happen to deliver a little carb punch too.

Word to the wise: Don't consider Pinch of Salt a health food. Just consider it treat with a little less salt. And enjoy -- in moderation.

New research is shaking up the belief that a low-salt diet benefits heart health. A low-sodium diet has long been recommended to lower blood pressure, but this new research suggests that lower sodium may not impact heart health as much as previously thought ... if at all.

Through surveys, researchers followed the health of over 8,000 participants over a period of years. After adjusting for other risk factors, the participants who consumed the least salt were 80% more likely to die from cardiac disease.

It's important to note that the researchers are not implying that a low-salt diet could be a causative factor for heart disease. Rather, they're questioning the efficacy of low-sodium diets for heart health and questioning whether it makes sense for doctors to recommend lowering sodium intake for people who have no other health problems. Personally, I'm having a hard time shaking the low-sodium belief. What do you think?

Because I have asthma, and because it interferes with my ability to exercise, I'm constantly on the look out for new diet and environment-based ways to reduce my symptoms. I'm on a good regimen of medications and starting last winter, immunotherapy. I know that a healthy lifestyle will complement those things and possibly help reduce the amount of medication I have to take.

I was surprised recently to learn that a high-salt diet has been linked to exercise-induced asthma. When researchers put a group of asthmatics on a high-salt diet, their airway functions declined significantly and rapidly. This is important, because Americans, whose asthma rates are climbing, have been turning away from fresh, natural foods and toward processed boxed and frozen goods that are loaded with sodium. I'll definitely be watching the salt in my diet much more closely from now on.

Men's Health recently listed the 20 saltiest foods in America. Though these aren't the only foods to avoid if you're cutting sodium, they're definitely at the top of the list! Check out AOL Body for more low-sodium tips.

How do you limit the amount of sodium in your diet?

This week I've been sampling Dannon's Light & Fit 0% Plus Yogurt, and I absolutely love it. Before I go any further though, let me tell you how I feel about yogurt. I like it, but only if I feel like I'm getting a high in calcium, low in sugar, legitimately fruit-filled snack. Now, there is always yogurt stacked up in my fridge, because I have two little children. But, rarely do I even open up a cup for myself. Not that I would ever buy my babies anything "bad"... cause I don't. But I regularly expect perfection of the things I put in my mouth. I'm simply not willing to waste 100 calories on a teeny cup of yogurt. I'd rather have two big pieces of fruit.

So! I was thrilled instantly by the calorie count on Dannon's new Light & Fit 0% Plus Yogurt. Each cup boasts only 50 or 60 calories, depending on the flavor. That I can do! The fruity varieties are also full of real fruit chunks. Fresh and healthy fruit chunks, not the icky stuff dumped in from a can. On top of all that, each flavor has proven to be delicious to both my children and me, and then a few of my personal training clients as well.

Before you go give Dannon's Light & Fit 0% Plus Yogurt a try, I encourage you to do a side-by-side comparison of it's nutritional content versus that of other yogurts. I did this a few days ago and couldn't find anything as good. This is the type of thing you want to put in your fridge if you're trying to lose weight. It's a great fix for your sweet tooth, while providing a decent amount of protein, calcium, vitamin D and other important nutrients.

There's been a lot of news about salt lately. Jacki told us recently that the FDA is very concerned about how much sodium we're eating. And Bev recently wrote about how cutting salt can reduce kids' soft drink consumption. So it's good news that Cambell's Soup recently announced that for the second time in as many years, they're cutting the salt in a dozen of their soups marketed to children. (You know, the ones that feature prominent licensed characters like Dora and Batman?)

The soups will now have 480 mg per 1/2 cup (condensed) serving. According to Mayo Clinic, children ages 4-8 should eat a maximum of 1,200 mg of sodium a day. So while Campbell's is making a step in the right direction, if your child is eating canned soup on a regular basis, you might want to watch their salt intake elsewhere.

The FDA is alarmed by our collectively high salt intake, so alarmed they are thinking about removing salt -- also known as sodium chloride -- from the list of foods they categorize as "generally recognized as safe," or GRAS.

Salt "is the single most harmful element in the food supply, even worse than saturated fat and trans fat, or food additives and pesticides," says Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Science in the Public Interest, the center petitioning the FDA to remove salt from the GRAS list. Salt is a forgotten killer, according to this group, and limiting consumption could save 150,000 lives per year.

Our bodies need a certain amount of salt to help maintain the right balance of body fluids. For healthy adults, this "need" amounts to a daily intake of less than 2,300 milligrams or one teaspoon. Most Americans ingest up to 4,000 milligrams a day.

It's not necessarily the individual to blame for this salt epidemic. Dangerous salt levels mostly come from food processing. So if salt was taken off the GRAS list, manufacturers would have limits on the quantities they could use.

Some say limiting salt will create problems elsewhere. Removing salt compromises taste and requires modifications that might lead to the addition of complex chemicals just to make up for the salt. It's not even all about the salt, say others. What about inactivity, low consumption of fruits and veggies, and excessive consumption of trans fats and alcohol? These issues clearly play a role in the mismanagement of an ideal lifestyle.

While concerned groups are lobbying for salt changes, you might want to take matters into your own hands. Hide your salt shaker, purchase low-sodium foods, and eat at home. Oh, and stay active, eat your fruits and veggies, cut the fats and minimize alcohol too. Commit to all of these tasks and the alarms you hear sounding in your future will be minimal.

If you're a carb-eater, then you probably know by now that all carbs are not created equal. "White" flours are those who have had most of the nutrition stripped out of them during processing. Whole grains, such as whole wheat bread, are a much more nutritious source of energy and fiber.

So just grab the bread with the whole wheat label, right? Not so fast. It's important in today's world of powerful marketing to read food labels carefully. When choosing whole wheat bread, you want to look for three things, according to Dr. Mallika Marshall, who recently visited The Early Show:

• Fiber: Fiber will not only help you stay full longer, it's also linked to long list of health benefits. Adults should eat between 25 and 30 grams a day, so choose a loaf of bread that has a high fiber content.
• Sodium: Store bought bread contains a surprisingly high amount of salt. Make sure your choice has less than 350 mg per serving.
• Hydrogenated Fats: Partially hydrogenated and hydrogenated fats are bad news. If you spot them on the label, move on to a different brand of bread.

I'm going to add my own item to the list -- high fructose corn syrup. It's nearly impossible to find bread without any sweetener in it, but it is possible to find a honey-sweetened bread if you want to avoid HFCS. Better yet, make your own bread at home and then you get to control what goes in it!

It's estimated that Americans are getting at least twice the amount of sodium they need every day, if not more. Sodium is a problem because it contributes -- among other things -- to high blood pressure. Hypertension contributes to cardiovascular disease, and since heart disease is the number one killer in America...well...you can see why it's in our best interest to reduce the amount of sodium we eat.

Processed foods are a big source of added salt, so one of the easiest ways to reduce sodium in your diet is to eat fresh, whole foods rather than those that are boxed or frozen. According to Ediets, there are several other ways to reduce your daily intake of sodium, including these:

• Leave the salt out of your recipes and let everyone salt their own dish at the table.
• When using canned goods, choose low-salt varieties or rinse before using.
• Make your own salad dressings.
• Pass on salty lunch meats and prepare your own meats at home.

How do you reduce sodium in your daily diet?

Hi ... my name's Chris ... and I'm a salt addict.

I sometimes put salt on food before tasting if it needs it. I've, on more than one occasion, actually taken a swig or two from the pickle jar because the juice tastes so nice and salty. And, if I go to the movies and order a popcorn, I sometimes swipe the salt shaker from the counter and bring it into the theater with me to keep my popcorn seasoned until the very last kernel (just for the record, I always put it back on the counter when the movie ends).

My health is extremely important to me, which is why my salt issue is so anomalous. Work out? Yup, 5 days per week. Eat clean? Except for the salt, extremely so. Get enough sleep? At least 7 hours. Stressed? Not at all. Smoke? Nope. Drink alcohol excessively? Not since college, really. Have a family history of medical conditions? Fortunately, no.

It's just the salt.

That's why I found a recent study, on adapting to a low-salt diet , to be so interesting. Apparently, study participants who switched to a low-sodium diet were amenable to continuing to eat in that manner after they realized that food can still be tasty without so much of it. If you're just as interested in reading more about this study, follow this link and read on.

We all know by now that there are just some foods you should stay away from. Trans fats, for instance. And high fructose corn syrup too. But those are in lots of things -- what specific foods should you stay away from? eDiets recently put together a list of the foods you should always avoid:

1. Cheeseburger and Fries. Fatty meat topped with fatty processed cheese, in between white bread with a side of fatty deep-fried starch. Yikes.
   
2. Doughnuts. Deep-fried dough and sugar -- it's tasty, but not very nutritious.
   
3. Fried Chicken, chicken fingers and chicken nuggets. Chicken is good for you, but not when it's processed, battered and deep fried.
   
4. Packaged lunches. You know, those ones for kids. Convenient, but ... ick!
5. Sugary cereal. Start your day off with a whole bunch of energy-draining sugar? No thanks.
   
6. Processed Meats. You never know what goes into those meats -- and you don't want to.
   
7. Canned soup. It's got wayyyyy to much sodium.
   

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?

Want a healthy recipe? Here's a sure thing. This recipe, which grew out of research and education projects supported by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, supports this group's goal of helping Americans keep their hearts strong by reducing their intake of calories, fat, cholesterol, and sodium. If you like this one, you might want to give these others a try too.

Spicy Baked Fish

Ingredients

1 pound cod (or other fish) fillet
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt-free spicy seasoning
Non-stick spray

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350.
  
• Spray casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray (Canola makes a good one).
• Wash and dry fish. Place in dish. Drizzle with olive oil and seasoning mixture.
• Bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until fish flakes with fork. Cut into four pieces. Serve with a side of your choice -- make it veggies and you'll have one healthy meal.
  

Each serving -- this recipe makes four -- has 134 calories, 5 g fat (1 gram saturated), 60 mg cholesterol, less than 1 g carbohydrates, 0 g fiber, 21 g protein, 93 mg sodium, and 309 mg potassium.

Yummy.

When eating that hearty Thanksgiving meal this Thursday, rest assured that many of the items being eaten will probably have an extra helping of sodium. Are you feeling that blood pressure rise already?

Unfortunately, the majority of processed foods use sodium and other items to give foods that desirable taste after months spent in a box or can (or frozen), but more often than not, there's too much sodium in there. Well, unless you prefer to share those individually-wrapped portions with someone else.

Gravy, potato mixes and other holiday items sometimes contain more than enough sodium for an entire day, so when considering those salty portions this Thanksgiving day, you may want to cut back on some of them if your blood pressure is already above average. And be aware -- the FDA is considering regulation of sodium in foods, which would be to the benefit of those unaware of all the salt they're eating every day.

Want to lower your blood pressure? Seek out reduced-sodium and low-salt foods and avoid using table salt on everything you eat to liven up the taste.

That, according to new study findings. High salt intake has long been connected to a rise in blood pressure, and the study suggested avoiding pre-salted foods and not adding salt to foods. In a world where all talbes have salt and pepper shakers, that is a toughie, yes?

That sounds pretty easy, until you realize just how bland most foods can be. Try this: use pepper, spices and garlic in place of salt. You'll get the taste and in most cases, almost no sodium!