National Heart Month: Love Your Heart

This Valentine’s Day, express your love by loving yourself and those close to you by understanding what you can do to reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke.  Heart disease is the number one cause of death for men and women in the United States. 

Some have been curious why the Winter Challenge requests participants to track how much salt they are adding to their diet.  The challenge is not demanding that you eliminate salt from your diet, but an effort to increase awareness.  By becoming aware of how much salt you consume, you will hopefully become a more heart healthy conscious consumer.

According to results recently released by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 90% of Americans are getting more sodium than is healthy.  So, what are the recommendations for sodium intake?  The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010 advises sodium intake should be limited to 2,300 mg a day.  But, according to CDC, 6 in 10 adults should be limiting your sodium intake to 1,500 mg a day.

Source: Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010,
 http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2010/dietaryguidelines2010.pdf

 Tips to Keep Your Sodium Intake Low and Your Heart Healthier:

• Read Nutrition Facts  label for information on the sodium content of foods and purchase foods that are low in sodium
• Consume more fresh foods and fewer processed foods that are high in sodium.
• When eating at restaurants, ask that salt not be added to your food or order lower sodium options, if available.