Thomas Freiden of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) states that if the food industry doesn’t regulate salt usage itself then the government may have to step in and regulate the industry.
Why the concern about salt?
Facts:
- American adults consume an estimated 3900 milligrams of sodium a day – more than twice the maximum recommended by US dietary guidelines.
- Excess sodium is linked to high blood pressure, raising the risk of heart attacks and stroke.
- More than seventy five percent of Americans’ sodium intake comes from processed foods and restaurant meals.
Stanford study states that if we emulated a UK initiative and reduced salt by 9.5% in packaged foods that it would:
- Lead to reduction in blood pressure
- prevent 513000 strokes per year
- prevent more than 480,000 heart attacks among Americans ages 40 to 85
- save $32 billion in medical costs
By eating fresh vegetables or frozen vegetables instead of the prepared foods we can take control of our own sodium intake. In fact, eating frozen vegetables maybe your best choice because they are processed hours after harvest stopping therespiration rate while it may be days before we consume fresh vegetables from the super market. It is also worth noting that frozen vegetables can be gotten year round at reasonable pricing compared to the fresh produce in your super market.
Think Frozen.
