Political funnyman Bill Mahr said during one of his monologues that Americans are not suffering an obesity problem because they eat too much. The overweight problem is simply caused by what we eat, and not as much by how much. In a single 12 oz. can of Coca Cola contains the equivalent of 12 cubes of sugar and many people consume several cans of this drink a day. But surprisingly enough, this fact is not nearly as alarming as a recent report issued by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. According to this new report 9 out of 10 Americans, aged 2 years and older, are consuming far more than the recommended amount of sodium (salt) a day. While sugar has a number of serious health affects if over used, salt is nearly twice as dangerous, leading to high blood pressure, depression, heart disease and many other problems.
While some of the problem comes from too much table salt, or too many chips and popcorn, these are only the tip of the iceberg. Many Americans, and people in the West as well, consumes great gobs of salt that they are not even aware of. A slice of white bread for instance can have as much as 230 milligrams and while a single slice is not harmful, if you eat several slices a day it adds up quickly and since salt, being a mineral compound, is hard for the body to process efficiently. According to the report the recommended daily allowance of salt is 2,300 milligrams, for healthy individuals under 51 years old and as low as 1,500 milligrams for anyone older or with health problems. Americans however consume, on average, 3,500 milligrams per day.
A large part of the problem is the amount of processed food that Americans eat trying to keep up with a fast paced lifestyle. This problem kills nearly 1 million people each year and adds a quarter of a trillion dollars a year to national health care costs, according to Thomas Frieden, CDC Director. There are many different foods that are problem foods. Processed meats, soups, pizza, pasta, meats, potato chips and pretzels, cookies. More than half of this this food comes directly from products that we buy at the store and the rest comes from restaurants and fast food chains. School cafeterias are also guilty of loading up on sodium laced products, simply because they are less expensive. Some food giants, like Kraft Foods and Leprino Foods are saying that they are actively working to cut at least 10% of the current amount of sodium from all of their products. But when you consider that most Americans consume nearly 100% of the recommended amount it is far from enough. The CDC says the lowering salt intake by just 400 milligrams will save nearly 30,000 lives each year and $7 billion in health-care costs.