Is Sodium the same as Salt?
Before taking chemistry classes, I used to wonder: is sodium the same as salt?
You see sodium on the nutrition fact label and salt on your kitchen table, you wonder… are they the same thing? YES, they are, kind of…
Everyday table salt has the chemical formula: NaCl – or Sodium Chloride.
Sodium is just half of the chemical equation known as salt (the NA part).
Ok – now that we have that established… what’s the big deal you right? Well, ever heard of blood pressure? How about heart attack?
High sodium intake diets have been linked to several different diseases and conditions, mostly having to do with your heart and blood pressure. In short – the more sodium you take in, the higher your risk of heart disease (stroke, heart attack, etc…).
Sodium is most widely used as a preservative. So if the food has to be kept disease-free while it makes its way from the farm to your table, then it probably has a lot of sodium. Foods with the most sodium are frozen dinners and fast food. Also in this category is canned foods.
How can you reduce your sodium intake?
STOP EATING SO MUCH FAST FOOD!
Seriously… but here is my theory: In certain cases, you can easily reduce your sodium intake. For example, canned soupes – if you pour the water out of a canned soup and eat only the solids in there, you have cut the sodium content in half. Heres another, Ramen Noodles – the flavor packet is probably where most of the salt is, so do the same thing as the soup and don’t eat ALL of it (instead, use half the flavor packet).
Another quick example then I want to hear from you… pretzels – if you wipe some of the salt pellets that are attached to a prezel, you instantly reduce your sodium intake.
So what do you think? Am I right? Wrong? – What are some other examples where you can reduce your salt and sodium intake alike? Comment!!
Oh yeah – and check this out: Salt and Sodium – Are They The Same?