Healthy Living Newsletter
Shaking Out... Sodium & Potassium
Imagine for a minute that the mythical scales held by blindfolded Lady Justice are really the scales of nutrition.
On one side place all the high-sodium prepared foods you eat on a regular basis — a can of chicken soup, a sandwich of deli turkey and white bread, chips, crackers, a frozen dinner, and low-fat salad dressing. You should add to that side of the balance every meal you eat from a restaurant or takeout counter.
On the other side, place all potassium-rich fruits and vegetables you eat — bananas, apricots, oranges, spinach, acorn squash, cantaloupe. Whole grain breads and cereals also belong on this side.
At this point, if you’re at all typical, your scales are heavily weighted in favor of sodium. To even things out a bit, you can add potatoes to the potassium side.
Unfortunately, fast food fries come with so much salt and are so heavily processed that they belong on the sodium side.
Sodium and potassium are out of balance in the American diet, and, as a result, one of every three has high blood pressure, a major risk factor for stroke, heart attack and heart failure.
If you’re worried about high blood pressure — and you should be, whether you’re diagnosed with it or not — one look at the imaginary scale will give you a very simple solution: you need to eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and less processed foods.
“Sodium and potassium are minerals that the body needs,” explains Sue Colarossi, RD, CDE, Manager of the Mercy Diabetes Education & Nutrition Services, “and they basically work in opposition to each other to maintain a proper fluid balance in cells and control blood pressure.”
The upper limit of sodium intake, according to the American Heart Association, should be 2,300 milligrams a day — equal to about a teaspoon of table salt. The average American eats three or four times that much — most of it from prepared foods.
The minimum requirement for potassium is 4,700 milligrams a day. Yet the average American, skimping on fresh produce, gets only about 2,300 milligrams a day.
“The kidneys correct the imbalance...but at a price — fluid retention, and increase in blood pressure, calcium loss and a risk of heart disease, osteoporosis and other chronic diseases,” explains Sue.
“The answer to potassium/sodium imbalance is not supplementation,” continues Sue. “Because of substantial risks of side effects and interactions, potassium supplements should be taken only under the supervision of your doctor.
“Sodium restriction, of course, is an important part of treatment and prevention of high blood pressure and should be a priority of all Americans especially seniors,” she continues, “but this can be difficult.”
Salty snack foods are popular, and those who cook your food in restaurants know that an extra dash of salt is bound to make the dish more appealing. Supermarket shopping requires vigilant label reading. When you’re eating out, inquire about how food is marinated and prepared.
“But the only way to be assured of getting a low sodium diet is to eat as many meals at home as possible,” Sue explains. “Prepare foods from scratch and use herbs, spices, pepper, lemon and garlic for seasoning.
“In addition to the added sodium, food processing tends to destroy whatever potassium was in the food originally. So, potassium levels are highest in fresh foods,” she says.
“What’s more,” Sue continues, “several large population-based studies have found that persons eating a potassium-rich diet had a substantially reduced risk of stroke.”
Getting enough potassium should not be difficult because the mineral is prevalent in many foods, even red meat, fish and poultry. However, too much cooking and too much processing destroys it. And, too much sodium tends to deplete the body’s supply.
The answer is simple: to keep the nutrition scales in a healthy balance, choose foods that are fresh, whole and natural. |
