Pass the salt please

Sodium: Is the food industry trying to kill us?

Beth Gilbert
Miami Women's Health Examiner
 

With the high rate of cardiovascular disease among men and women in the United States, you would think that food service providers would be offering more low sodium options. However, walk the aisles of your local Publix, Winn Dixie or Walmart and tell me how many low sodium options you find available? I can tell you, close to zero, if you are looking for items lower than 50 mg of sodium. I can see why the average American consumes approximately 10,000 mg of sodium per day, even though the National Institute of Health recommends 2,400 mg or less per day.

Most practicing clinicians tell patients with high cardiovascular disease risk, congestive heart failure or who have experienced a heart attack to look for items with a sodium content lower than 50 mg, as sodium should be restricted to 1,500 mg or lower per day in cardiovascular risk patients. However, that is nearly impossible and many individuals who already have developed cardiovascular disease are elderly and may have a difficult time cooking for themselves. Additionally, cost is an issue for this patient population.

I was utterly shocked walking through the frozen food aisle of my local Publix to find ZERO items with sodium levels less than 100 mg, aside from some frozen vegetables or fruits but that was it. Lean Cuisine, Marie Callender, Healthy Choice Meals and even organic options were loaded with sodium. I am not just talking a little over 100 mg but many with a total of 500 mg or more, reaching as high as 1,200 mg. Even in the prepared foods section, Perdue GRILLED chicken strips, thinking they would be a lower sodium option, were loaded with close to 500 mg of sodium. How are those incapacitated by cardiovascular disease able to prepare a healthy meal option without having to cook everything fresh?

Bernice Appelbaum of Deerfield Beach, FL said, “I had a heart attack several years ago and always look for lower sodium items. I am somewhat ignorant in that I look for items that state ‘low sodium’ on the front of the box but if I look at the back of the box the sodium content is quite high. How many of us actually read the back of box, especially having a hard enough time moving around and getting our reading glasses out.” She went on to say, “I see the label, it says low sodium or heart healthy. So, I think it is healthy enough for elderly people with heart conditions to eat it. I need to be more educated now.”

Bernice is lucky, she is a highly active and mobile 85 year old woman who can drive and cook but her friends are not so capable, which makes them reliant on high sodium frozen dinners and prepared food items. There is just so much oatmeal, no-salt chips and peanut butter one can eat; it is almost like the food service industry is trying to kill us all.

Whole foods, Epicure Market and the Fresh Market do offer lower sodium items but then again they come at a higher price tag. Additionally, food delivery services offer low fat and sodium options but they are also very expensive. However, local farmer’s markets are a good option but they usually occur weekly and are not always all year round.

So the question still remains, how is an elderly person living on social security suppose to afford to maintain a healthy heart when they have a hard time paying co-pays on multi-prescription drug regimens and have few low cost, low sodium prepared food options? Additionally, why are these food service providers making it so difficult for the general population to remain heart healthy? At the present time, the question remains unanswered.

For more info: American Heart Association Dietary Recommendations to Prevent Cardiovascular Disease: http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=851; Mayo Clinic Seven Steps to Prevent Heart Disease: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heart-healthy-diet/nu00196