Did you know that the recommended daily value of salt is only around 2300 mg? It is reported that Americans consume more salt from their diet and the majority of them exceed the allowable limit of salt consumption. From salty drinks to salt-rich foods, the daily American diet consists of great sodium content that it is already deemed unhealthy.
15 Everyday Foods With Way More Salt Than You Realize
While there are salt benefits, eating too much of it serves as a hazard for our body and health too. In line with this fact, we should know how to limit our salt intake by knowing what we eat and its components. Though we know that junk foods and crackers have too much salt on them, there are other foods which we are unaware of having high salt content. We have provided here a list of 15 everyday foods with way more salt than you realize. Look out for these foods the next time you go grocery shopping.
1. Chicken
You are probably unaware of this fact, but Chicken is also high in sodium content. Chickens that are sold in the market are often enhanced with high sodium flavoring injections.
A 2 ounce serving of this enhanced chicken will give you around 440 mg of salt, and that’s around 500% more sodium found in naturally untreated chicken. The next time you and grab poultry from the shelf, make sure that it is labeled with “non-enhanced” to ensure that there are no salt or other chemicals added to your chicken.
2. Processed Cheese
Who doesn’t love cheese, right? Cheese is mouth watering and a great treat for most of us. However, 2 tablespoons of processed cheese will already give you around 597 mg of sodium. The so-called “American cheese” also contain too much salt which can reach up to 368 mg. It is important to cut off your consumption of these cheeses because they do not only contain too much salt, but they also have a considerable amount of emulsifiers, food coloring, and other preservatives.
3. Breakfast Cereals
Cereals are often high in fiber which makes them a healthy option to start the day. However, if you do not read the labels of the food carefully, you might be able to get more sodium from it than what you intend to have. The amount of salt per serving of breakfast cereals can reach up to 180 mg to 300 mg depending on the brand of your choosing.
4. Bagel
A single bagel alone houses around 430 mg of salt, sometimes, even more. When you add cheese on your bagel, you are also adding a hefty amount of sodium content on the 430 mg already on it. If you add two teaspoons of cream cheese on top, you have to expect 694 mg of salt in just one piece of bagel and cheese combo!
5. Cottage Cheese
We have already established the fact that processed cheese contains a lot of salt. However, cottage cheese (though always deemed healthy because of their calcium and protein contents) is quite high in salt too. ½ cup of cottage cheese has around 400 mg of sodium already, and a full serving of it is nearly ¾ of your required sodium intake for the day.
6. Canned Soups
We all know that canned soups have preservatives to extend their shelf life, thus, along with the preservatives also lays a high level of salt content. Take one can of Campbell’s French Onion Soup, for example, it contains around 1,350 mg of salt already, and you need 2 cans of it to fill a regular soup bowl.
7. Pizza
One of the salt-rich foods that we can never get tired of eating is pizza. A single slice of cheese pizza has more than ¼ of your recommended daily salt intake.
The toppings on the pizza of your choice also contain their salt amount making the entire treat delicious yet unhealthy.
8. Pre-packaged Foods
Due to our busy lifestyle, many people go for pre-packaged foods that they can easily microwave at will. However, these foods are rich in salt content, and while it offers some salt benefits, it is still not highly recommended to include them in your usual diet. A study made by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that these pre-packaged meals exceed sodium content set by federal guidelines to as much as 70%.
9. Cold Cuts
Meats are good sources of protein, but those little slices of bologna, ham and turkey breast are filled with too much sodium. Sodium nitrate is added on these cold cuts to keep bacteria away and mask any unsavory flavors.
10. Bread
Since bread is part of our daily routine, it serves as one of the main sources of our daily salt requirement. Whether you believe it or not, a single slice of bread can have as much as 100 to 170 mg of sodium which constitutes 7% of your daily salt intake.
11. Hot Chocolate
The warm drink will not only satisfy your sweet tooth and give you extra sugar, but it will also provide you with a high amount of sodium. Hot chocolate is one of the salty drinks that many people are unaware of. One serving of a hot chocolate pack will give you around 7% of your recommended salt intake for the day. Hence, a warm chocolate drink is not a good choice if you want to reduce your salt intake or if you are on a low sodium diet.
12. Readymade Mixes
This common breakfast treat would contain a lot of sodium if you purchased it somewhere. Ready-made mixes may contain around 400 mg of sodium in each serving, while pourable mixes have 700 mg for three pancakes. It is always advisable to start making homemade pancakes and cut the unnecessary salt.
13. Frozen Veggies
Pre-sauced frozen veggies can have 500 mg of sodium per cup, especially those with cheesy sauces. If you want to have some frozen veggies included on your meals, go for those plain ones instead and let go of the sauce.
14. Veggie Burgers
This might come as a surprise at how veggie burgers are considered as one of the salt-rich Fresh vegetables are healthy and veggie burgers are the same as well – if and only if you make them your own.
As a matter of fact, an average veggie pattie has salt content between 300 to 400 mg. The packaged veggie burgers sold in different supermarkets already contain heavily processed ingredients.
15. Restaurant Food
A research made by the Center for Science in the Public Interest showed that around 85% of adult food found in the menu of popular food chains exceeds the daily value for salt.
