Sodium Jeopardy
You: “Amy, I’ll take Sodium Scandal for $1000 please.”
Me: “Answer: This common food is one of the leading contributors other than table salt of sodium to the average American’s diet.”
You: “What is…um…well, uh…”
I’m sure you would have answered correctly given adequate time to Google or speak personally to your trusty nutritionista. But given the time restraints, I’ll just help you out.
Surprisingly, the food that is one of the leading contributors of sodium to the average American’s diet is bread. One ounce of bread will range between 95-210mg of sodium. That means that if you are like Toula in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and all you long for is a nice Wonderbread sandwich, you’ll also get a big punch of sodium to boot. Add lunch meat, cheese, and condiments and you’re looking at over 1000mg of sodium. Hello high blood pressure!
Foods that are considered low in sodium if they contain less than 140 mg or 5 percent of the Daily Value. It may be a little difficult, but there are definitely bread options out there with less sodium. Try to pick bread with less than 240mg of sodium for 2 slices.
Maybe the Earl of Sandwich didn’t care about his high blood pressure. Or maybe he was just…gasp…naïve?
Tags: american diet, bread, high blood pressure, salt, sandwich