Americans Consume Too Much Salt

Americans Consume Too Much Salt.
Americans' have a crush on of salt has continued unabated in the 21st century, putting hoi polloi at risk for high blood pressure, the greatest cause of heart attack and stroke, US health officials said Thursday. In 2010, more than 90 percent of US teenagers and adults consumed more than the recommended levels of pungency - about the same company as in 2003, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in Dec 2013. "Salt intake in the US has changed very spoonful in the last decade," said CDC medical dick and report co-author Dr Niu Tian. And despite a slight the sack in salt consumption among kids younger than 13, the researchers found 80 percent to 90 percent of kids still fritter away more than the amount recommended by the Institute of Medicine.

And "There are many organizations that are focused on reducing dietary common intake," said Dr Gregg Fonarow, a spokesman for the American Heart Association and a professor of cardiology at the University of California, Los Angeles. "More able efforts are needed if the practice of excess dietary salt intake is to be reduced". The CDC has suggested coupling salt-reduction efforts with the encounter on obesity as a way to fight both problems at the same time.

New persuasion food guidelines might also be warranted, the report suggested. Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist at the NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said reducing dietary salty is leading for both adults and children. "What is so distressing is that this report indicates that eight out of 10 kids superannuated 1 to 3 years old, and nine out of 10 over 4 years old, are eating too much marinated and are at risk for high blood pressure. Most of this sea salt comes from processed foods and restaurant meals, not the salt shaker on the table.

That means it's in all probability that much of the food these children eat is fast food, junk food and processed food. "This translates into a high-salt, high-fat and high-sugar council that can lead to a number of serious health problems down the road. In addition, both accelerated and processed food alters taste expectations, paramount to constant parental complaints that their kids won't eat anything but chicken nuggets and bombast dogs.

It's the parents and caregivers who are in charge of the menus. "This begs the question: Why are you giving a 2-year-old these foods?" she said. Salt hides in many foods. "Salt is employed for texture, flavor enhancement and as a preservative, and does not of necessity taste salty. Some health advocates believe the solution to the zestiness problem lies in getting food companies and restaurants to reduce salt in their foods.

In 2010, the US Food and Drug Administration began working with the grub industry to voluntarily reduce taste in processed foods. But two years later, little has been accomplished, according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest. "Unfortunately, the provisions industry has failed to significantly bring down sodium levels in the face 40 years of governmental admonitions," Julie Greenstein, the center's deputy director of condition promotion policy, said in a statement.

So "It's time for the FDA to step in and require intelligent reductions". The problem is that there's scant evidence for determining exactly how much salt is too much and how spot is too little, according to a recent Institute of Medicine report. "For now, the simple answer is to cook more at shelter and eat more whole and less processed foods".

Checking food labels for sodium content is also vital, experts say. For the report, the CDC relied on observations from a national survey involving almost 35000 people, conducted between 2003 and 2010. The appraise found that most Americans still consume an regular of 3400 milligrams - about 1,5 teaspoons - of salt a day, according to the IOM.

The US Dietary Guidelines for Americans approve people 14 to 50 years old set their daily salt intake to 2300 mg. But that's still too much for about half of Americans, according to the guidelines. People over 50, blacks and populate with high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney cancer should restrict salt intake to 1500 mg a day product. The CDC report in was published in the Dec 20, 2013 issue of the agency's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.