Eat Less Salt or The FDA Will Make Sure You Do

Salt is a common staple in many household foods. In fact, many of the foods have excessive amounts of salt in them, and we might not even realize it.Lately an effort is being made to put pressure on the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to help reduce the amount of salt found in many processed foods. They are proposing that the salt in processed foods be reduced in steps, so as not to affect the flavor too much at one time.

Excessive salt intake has been associated with any number of health problems. Some of these problems include: increased heart attack risk, hypertension, and sometimes strokes. It appears that despite the attempts of public awareness campaigns, the American public is willing to continue to increase their salt intake each and every year. The FDA suggests that an outright ban on salt in restaurants and processed foods is out of the picture, but that reduction regulation in the future is possible.

The FDA would prefer to work with the food industry to reduce salt levels on a voluntary level, and they have begun talks with leaders in the industry to do just that. The FDA says that they have been impressed with the results of these talks, and that they hope to see results soon. No one (neither the FDA nor food industry leaders) is sure of exactly the best path to take to accomplish their goals. One thing is for certain, Americans must reduce their salt intake. The accepted healthy limit for the average adult to take in for one day is 2300 milligrams. However, if you are over 40, then the average healthy amount is lowered to 1500 milligrams. These numbers are disturbing when you consider that studies have found that the average American takes in about 3900 milligrams per day.

The debate will rage on over which path is the best to take to help reduce salt intake levels. However, one thing that we all can agree on is the level of salt consumed by individuals needs to be lowered, and quickly. Doing nothing is no longer an option.  Does your diet have too much sodium in it?

Source: CNN

Written by Ernesto Martinez

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