王国庆
Evenifyouhavealighthandwiththesaltshaker,youprobablygetlotsofsodiuminprocessedorrestaurantmeals.Butsodiumcancontributetohighbloodpressure,andincreasetheriskforheartdiseaseandfailure,stroke,andkidneydisease.Sohowmanyofusarelimitingoursodiumintaketorecommendedlevels—whichscientistssaycouldreducenewcasesofcoronaryheartdiseaseby60-to-120thousandperyear.
ResearchersattheCentersforDiseaseControlanalyzeddatafromtheNationalHealthandNutritionExaminationSurveyfrom2005/2006,themostrecentyearsavailable.Nearly4,000adultsover20-year-oldcompletedaphysical,hadtheirbloodpressuretakenandansweredasurveyofwhatthey’deatenoverthepast20.Thisfoodsurveywastakenagainaboutaweeklater.
Accordingtothedata,lessthan10percentofadultsarelimitingtheirsodiumtorecommendedlevels.
Theresearcherssuggestthatfoodmanufacturersreducethesodiuminpro-cessedfoods.Andthatconsumersmodifytheireatinghabits—whichmightmeandoingmorecookingathome,whereyouhavecontrolofthesalt.