3 Sneaky Locations of Sodium in Your Diet
By Genevieve Cunnungham
Most people, at one point or another, have to give up or limit their sodium intake. Too much sodium can cause water retention, heart problems, and other problems with health. For many people, this is tough. No more salt? Now what?! But the problem isn’t so much the extra salt in your diet (that part is easy!), but rather the hidden sodium that you didn’t even know was there. If you need to watch your sodium intake, take a look at these likely places of hidden sodium in your diet.
Lunch Meat
Lunch meat, or really any processed meat, may actually contain quite a bit of sodium. This is for two reasons. For one, it helps with the preservation process. If you want the meat to last, it may need a sodium concoction. Another reason that this kind of meat has sodium is because it is often injected into meats in order to make them moist and to add additional taste. If you need to watch your sodium intake, you’ll probably need to steer clear of regular lunch meat.
Tomato Sauce
Tomato sauce is oh so good, but it’s also oh so salty. What does this mean? It means you’ll probably have to watch foods such as spaghetti, lasagna, and pizza. This one is hard for a lot of people, mostly because tomato sauce is so good! But it’s necessary if you need to limit your intake to a certain level.
Frozen Chicken Breast
Who knew? Chicken breast is one of the last places that you might expect to see sodium, but frozen chicken breast has it in spades. Before the chicken is frozen, it is filled with a sodium water in order to improve juiciness as well as flavor. And since this is so unexpected, many people take in quite a bit of sodium in this manner. If sodium restriction is part of your diet, make sure that you read the label before cooking this seemingly healthy meat option.
Everyone loves a little salt in their diet, and a little bit of salt is actually necessary. But too much sodium, and you have a recipe for poor health. If you need to watch your sodium intake, make sure to check these hidden locations. With some diligence, you may be able to adjust your diet to be low sodium while also being delicious and diverse at the same time.
To learn more about your health and wellness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Westminster, Calif.