Talking sense about salt

I’ve been waiting a long time for this.

Finally, the absurd amount of salt we’re eating is getting the attention it deserves.

You may have heard of a recent lawsuit against the restaurant chain Denny’s because of  the massive amounts of salt in many of its dishes – some of those meals contain two full days’ worth of sodium.

Now, I’ll leave the matter of whether this is an issue for the courts to others. To me, just getting the focus on salt is a victory. Most of us know we shouldn’t get too much of it, yet few of us realize how much salt is in our foods – especially in those dishes you don’t normally think of as salty. Two of Denny’s buttermilk pancakes, for example, contain about half the sodium a person should get in an entire day.

The problem isn’t just Denny’s, though. The problem is all our meals that come from fast-food joints and chain restaurants, not to mention the packaged and processed foods that line our freezers and pantries at home. Almost all of them are loaded with this stuff.

I hesitate to even call these things “food.” Most of them are little more than vehicles for the delivery of carbs and sodium. I could put some of these things out in a field and the cattle will come for miles for a lick.

We’ve known for some time that salt can increase blood pressure to dangerous levels. Now, a new study published in July in Hypertension finds that it can also interfere with the meds people take to deal with the high-blood pressure often created by their sodium-rich diets.

But let’s take this a step further. If you’re willing to cut down on the salt to make your blood pressure meds work better, you could make a few more minor adjustments to free yourself from those meds altogether.

I wrote about one of the real causes of high-blood pressure and the simple, safe and effective drug-free solution in the May issue of Health Revelations. I also wrote about another common root cause of high blood pressure in the July issue. Subscribe now,  and you’ll get access to that and more in our online archives.

That excessive sodium can also harm you in ways your probably don’t realize. For example, our bodies should get seven times as much potassium as salt. But while most of us get far more salt than we need, it’s almost impossible to get the right amount of potassium. Go look at the label on your multivitamin and see how much of your daily potassium is in there.

Without even knowing what kind of vitamin you take, I can tell you right now that it’s not much.

Fortunately, there are simple ways you can cut back on your sodium and restore your potassium to beneficial levels. You’ll find that in the June issue of Health Revelations, where I looked at the fatigue problems caused by undiagnosed potassium deficiencies, and the $3 solution available at your local supermarket.

Don’t wait for poor health to strike before you start making changes to your lifestyle. Many of the problems associated with excessive sodium take time to appear, so do your body a favor and take care of it now – before it’s too late.