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Foods High in Sodium

Article by Diet Bites

Salt is a Widely, Overused, Inexpensive Seasoning

Salt is one of the most inexpensive seasonings and is widely used by fast food and fine dining restaurants as well as by manufacturers.

It is often over-used by the American cook. While a little goes a long way towards flavoring recipes, too much can create health issues which impact our heart, circulatory system, blood pressure and yes - even our weight because salt encourages water retention.

 


Keeping Your Intake at Healthy Levels Via Nutrition Labels

Next time you're busy in the kitchen, make it a point to visit your pantry. Pull out the boxes and cans of foods stored there and take a moment to review the nutrition labels. You may wish to check the nutrition labels of the foods resting inside your refrigerator, too - particularly the pickled foods.

Cereal, More Salt Than Pickles; Salad Dressing Concerns

Be sure to check your cereal box labels too. Some varieties contain more sodium content than that salty-tasting pickle.

Other salty offenders include capers and olives. Don't forget to check the content lodged inside your salad dressing - particularly the low calorie ones. Often, manufacturers will add flavor and texture to their recipe using sodium - more than the regular, full-blown recipe contains.

For example, one Tablespoon of regular Italian dressing contains about 140 milligrams. One Tablespoon of the fat free variety contains 155 milligrams. Not a huge variance, but where some dressing are concerned - the difference can be substantial, particularly where restaurant and fast food dressings are involved.

For example, regular ranch dressing contains about 170 milligrams per serving. If we visit the ranch at McDonald's, that tiny packethold over 500 milligrams [530 to be exact].

Daily Recommendation for Salt

Keep in mind that the average individual who consumes a 2000 calorie daily diet in order to maintain good health - as well as their recommended ideal weight requires about a teaspoon of salt per day - which translates to about 2400 milligrams.

Foods High in Sodium

We have posted a data chart for high-sodium foods below for your quick reference, but let's take a moment to list more of the top offenders.

The foods highest in sodium content are: table salt, bouillon, sauerkraut, potato salad, miso, canned tomato products, fast food submarine sandwiches, fast food cheeseburgers, nachos, baking soda, fast food biscuits, cheese sauce, refried beans, potatoes Au Gratin, fast food tacos, ripe and green olives, capers, pickles [sweet, sour, dill], cured ham, chili con carne, crab meat and other fish harvested from the oceans where they lived in salty water, cottage cheese, beef stew, potato chips, cheese balls, hush puppies, tuna salad, pizza, canned lima beans, pretzels, scalloped potatoes, macaroni& cheese, Teriyaki sauce, canned chicken, franks - hotdogs, Braunschweiger sausage [liver sausage], canned corn, commercially prepared soups such as tomato and chicken noodle, pork skins, baking powder, vegetable fruit cocktail, pickled beets, pickled jalapeno peppers and other pickled peppers, jarred pimento, battered and fried onion rings, gravy and almost all varieties of cheese.

The Fatty Acid Connection

In addition, foods which are often substantial in sodium are also heavy-handed in fats. This particularly holds true where fast food, commercially prepared and fine dining recipes are involved.

When attempting to lose excess fat, it's not only the amount of fatty acids that we need to watch in order to achieve maximum results. We also need to monitor other nutritional elements. All of these factors serve to create the most perfect picture of health.

List of Foods High in Sodium

Amounts Based on Milligrams

Miso, 1 Cup

2563

Table Salt, 1 Teaspoon

2325

Seasoned Bread Crumbs, 8 ounces

2111

Breaded, Fried Shrimp, 6-8 shrimp

1875

Beef Bouillon, 1 cube or packet

1560

Sauerkraut, 1 Cup

1560

Potato Salad, Homemade 1 Cup

1323

Small Cheeseburger, fast food with weight of 195 grams

1314

Tomato Sauce, 8 ounces which equals 1 cup

1284

Egg Sausage Biscuit, fast food

1210

Refried Beans, 1 Cup

1131

Cured Ham, 3 oz

1128

Baked Beans & Franks, 1 Cup

1114

2 Pancakes, Syrup - fast food, as served

1104

 

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