According to a new report from the American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association, your excess salt intake doesn’t always come down to the salt shaker or a bag of ready salted. Surprisingly, six salty foods have emerged that contain surprisingly high sodium levels including bread and chicken.
AHA spokeswoman and research nutritionist at Northwestern University Linda Van Horn, PhD, RD says that ‘Excess sodium in our diets has less to do with what we’re adding to our food and more to do with what’s already in the food’, and over 75% of people’s salt comes from eating processed or restaurant foods.
Having too much salt in your diet can damage your wellness, as it can cause swelling, puffiness and bags under the eyes, as well as more seriously threatening your wellbeing with high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.
So what are the six salty sins? Firstly, one piece of bread can have as much as 230mg of sodium, which is 15% of your overall recommended daily amount. So if you have two slices of toast for breakfast, a sandwich at lunch and side order of bread at dinner, it quickly adds up.
Cold cuts and cured meats also make the list, as pre-packaged turkey can have as much as 1050mg of sodium to reduce spoilage.
Therefore, the third item on the list is a sandwich, as putting bread or a roll together with cured meats and adding a salty condiment like ketchup or mustard means one sandwich gives you well over your recommended intake of salt for an entire day.
Fourthly, two slices of pizza accounts for a day’s worth of salt, and a single bowl of soup can likewise add up, as it contains 940mg of sodium.
Finally, beware of poultry as packaged raw chicken often contains an added salt solution, which can quickly add up depending on how the chicken is prepared the sodium. Just 3 ounces of frozen and breaded chicken nuggets contains about 600 mg of sodium. Think on your salty sins and try halving a sandwich with a side salad, or limit the cheese on your pizza and add extra veggies.
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