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Eating More Bread Means More Salt Intake?
 

Every 1 in 3 Americans has hypertension (high blood pressure). If not treated appropriately, hypertension can ultimately lead to stroke and heart disease, the number one killer in the United States. Every year, heart disease and stroke kill more than 800,000 Americans and contribute an estimated $273 billion in health care costs.

As people get older, a high-salt (sodium) diet is less and less tolerated since the kidneys begin to slow down and the kidneys are the organs responsible for the removal of excess sodium. That is why a high-salt diet has long been accused to cause hypertension.

Foods such as processed meat and potato chips used to be blamed as the sources of high salt content. But a study, conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reported on February 7, 2012 that 9 out of 10 American adults ate too much salt and blamed slices of bread and dinner rolls as the leading culprit instead of potato chips or popcorn.

CDC identified 10 types of foods that were accounted for 44 percent of salt consumed. The list starts with bread and rolls and followed by cold cuts and cured meat, pizza, poultry, soups, sandwiches, cheese, pasta dishes, meat dishes and snacks such as pretzels and potato chips.

In an average person’s diet, pizza accounts for 5.7 percent of the sodium; cold cuts make up 5.8 percent, and poultry (including fresh chicken and turkey) is responsible for 4.5 percent. Bread and rolls rank highest on the list, which contributes 7.4 percent of the salt to the daily menu.

Though salt content might not be high in bread for a single serving, eating several times a day can actually raise the salt intake. A single slice of white bread can contain as high as 230 mg of salt.

While the recom-ended daily salt intake is 2,300 mg, the average American consumes 3,266 mg of salt each day, excluding the salt added at the table. For 60 percent of American, including those who age above 51 or have hypertension or diabetes, the recommended daily salt intake should be 1,500 mg.

The findings showed that most of the extra salt comes from common grocery store and restaurant items and the salt shaker at the table contributes only a very small proportion. Americans consume nearly twomthird of the salt from items sold in stores, 24.8 percent from restaurants, and the remainder from other sources like vending machines and the home salt shakers. The salt per calorie of food consumed was found to be much higher at restaurants than from store-bought food.

The health experts from CDC urged the food producers and restaurants to reduce the amount salt in their food. It is estimated that a 25-percent reduction in the salt content of the top 10 salt sources could save 28,000 lives each year. Meanwhile, this would also give consumers more choice. People can decide how much salt they want to add at the table. Bearing in mind that once the salt is added, it cannot be taken out.

The food manufacturers have been under pressure trying to reduce the salt content of their products. However, this is never an easy job because they have to ensure their products are tasty enough not to drive their customers away. They have to find substitutes for salt to make sure that food safety standards are met as salt is a major preservative in many foods.

Some bread lovers already start making their own bread without salt in a bread machine. They claim that there is apparently no difference in taste. It seems that bread does not need salt to taste good.

CDC urged consumers to make their choice at the restaurants by telling the waiter to reduce the amount of salt; eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables without sauces, limited processed foods high in salt; and read the nutrition facts label so as to count the amount of sodium ingested.

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