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What Salt Intake Should Look Like

So how much is a teaspoon of salt?

It is approximately 2.3 g. There is an image that shows you the recommended daily intake of salt. Sodium is measure in nutrition labels in milligrams (mg). 2.3 g is equivalent to 2,300. The slideshow also demonstrates the actual amount we consume, and it's about quadruple the amount compared to the recommended daily intake. It's interesting to see how much salt we should consume vs. how much we eat. 

I added a visual that shows the average a person in the U.S consumes salt in a year compared to recommended salt intake per year. 

Sodium Content

Would you like to know how much sodium is found in some of your favorite fast food options? 

I have attached a table on common fast food meal options offer by Panera, Chipotle, Qdoba, and Subway. You will be surprised how much sodium is found in their food options. I also created an image that shows the amount of sodium a pizza slice and big mac combo contains.  

Sweat Sodium

So how much sodium is lost in the sweat?

SWEAT

I provided an image that shows approximately how much sodium is lost in sweat. Everyone loses different amounts of sodium when they sweat. About 20% of athletes sweat more than 1.5 g (1,500 mg); some may sweat less sodium, which can also relate to the amount of sodium they consume. 

D1 athletes use a sweat analysis machine to measure how much sodium is lost in the sweat. It provides a representation to determine the sweat and electrolyte losses during training, and it is a guide to personalized fluid and electrolyte replacement recommendations.

Low Sodium Snack Options

There is an endless list of snacks that you can consume with little to no sodium. Fruit is a great snack and is also full of vitamins and minerals. Some fruit snacks may include grapes, bananas, apples, cantaloupe, and cucumber. Other snacks option consist of unsalted nuts, vegetable smoothies, or even Greek yogurt with berries. Sodium adds up quickly because all of our food that is processed contains sodium. It is unavoidable, but we can change our habits by making minor changes to our snack options and consuming options low in sodium. 

Fruit

Fruit has no or a small amount of sodium, depending on the type of fruit. Strawberries, apples, oranges, bananas, and grapes are great snacks to eat. 

Nuts

Unsalted nuts are great snacks options. Almonds, pecans, cashews, and walnuts are examples of healthy snacks low in sodium. 

Greek Yogurt

Greek yogurt paired with fruit like berries is a perfect snack with low sodium consumption, and it’s also full of lots of vitamins and minerals.

Smoothies

Fruit and vegetable smoothies are a great source of minerals and vitamins. It is low in sodium and a great snack to consume when feeling hungry. 

What's Next? 

My next blog talks about salt alternatives. A way we can minimize our sodium consumption is by using alternative salts in our cooking. Although most of our sodium comes from processed foods, we could eat less if we used salt substitutes instead of salt to flavor our cooking.

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