Nutrition and healthy eating

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• April 20, 2012 10:28 a.m.

  Absolutely let people add salt if they choose but why punish everyone else if they dont need all that salt? You can add salt if the food isn't salty enough for you, but you can't remove whats there if its too much to be healthy for others!!! That's like turning the heat up high if you are cold when others are really hot!! Turn temperature on normal,let cold folks wear a wrap or coat and the hot person wear fewer clothes! You can't take off enough clothes to be cool in a hot house or car!!!!

  - Rita

• March 7, 2012 11:36 a.m.

  I am also opposed to additional governmental regulations. I actually have low blood pressure and salt everything I eat. Why should those of us who enjoy salt (and the flavor it adds) be subjected to tastless food because some people can't take responsibility for their choices? I'm all for including the salt amounts on menus, but having the government regulate how much can be used is ridiculous. This isn't the governments job!

  - Nicole

• February 25, 2012 9:53 a.m.

  I am absolutely oppossed to any additional regulations by the government. People need to take individual resposibility, not have the government monitor and control every aspect of our lives.

  - Heather

• February 14, 2012 4:06 p.m.

  Full disclosure of sodium content in all prepared food sold should be mandatory!In order to make an informed decision.

  - Kris

• January 28, 2012 6:50 p.m.

  I need to maintain a diet with under 1500 mg of sodium/day and am living well with heart failure because I do. But, it is so difficult to shop and/or eat out because of the large amounts of salt added to everything. There are salt shakers on every restaurant table -- let people salt their own food after it arrives if that's what they wish. Even foods marked "low sodium" in the grocery most times have more than 1/2 my daily allowance in one serving. There is no need for that. Young children aren't able to determine and choose and by the time they can, they are already habituated to a high taste for salt. I've written food manufacturers and called grocers to NO avail!

  - laurali

• January 5, 2012 12:07 a.m.

  Over 70 percent of daily sodium intake comes from processed, pre-packaged, and prepared foods. Only about five percent of daily sodium intake comes from salt added to properly season food that is freshly cooked Even if you add salt at the table, this makes up only about six percent of daily intake Another 10 percent (roughly) is inherent in food itself. The government's own recommendations (PDF) note that the hypertensive effect of excess sodium consumption is manifest at levels above six grams per day. The previous federally recommended amount of daily sodium consumption was around a teaspoon, about 2.3 grams. The current recommendations are for 1.5 grams daily. The average American currently consumes around 3.4 grams of sodium per day. The governmental recommendations are predicated on the assumption that the "taste for sodium is acquired and can be modified" (PDF). The reason sodium and chloride (the constituents of what we refer to as 'salt') are classified as essential minerals is that we require them to live. We are physiologically programmed, like a gazelle on the Serengeti, to seek out and consume salt should we not get a sufficient amount in our diet. It is hardly an acquired taste like caviar or country music. Additionally, the government asserts that since "consuming less salt or sodium is not harmful, it is understandable why the Federal Government recommends that healthy normal individuals moderate their salt and sodium intake." The only prob

  - Bruce

• January 5, 2012 12:03 a.m.

  Don't Hold the Salt: Attempts to Curb Sodium Intake Are Misguided By Michael S. Fenster The FDA is working to limit the amount of salt used and served by restaurants, but not only will that not help us, it might actually do harm. The government and specifically the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have been mulling over legislation that would regulate the amount of salt used and served by restaurants, following a recommendation by the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2010. Now, being a physician and being against sodium reduction is like being a member of PETA and entering the Nathan's hot dog eating contest-and winning. It is generally frowned upon. In addition to pursuing this regulatory intervention, the government, along with several medical professional societies, recently launched the Million Hearts initiative. This program, paid in part with tax dollars, aims to reduce heart attacks in the U.S. by one million. But the ends do not always justify the means, no matter how noble and good the intentions. A main goal of that program is to reduce sodium consumption by 20 percent. This mandate might be debatable if the evidence between current amounts of sodium consumption and an increased risk of morbidity and mortality was incontrovertible. It is not. It remains at present inconclusive. The theory is based on the observation that increased sodium intake is associated with an increase in blood pressure. It is in a modest way. It is widely preached that hypertension is a

  - Bruce

• December 27, 2011 12:01 a.m.

  Providing foods without salt would greatly increase buying such foods. There exist a whole market of people who for high blood pressure reasons must have their salt intake restricted. If food companies and food manufacturers were smart, they would tap into this market and cash in.There is no reason why canned products must be "salt only." As it stands now, they are losing tons of revenue due to not providing this large market of salt restricted individuals with canned products that are SALT FREE!

  - Abe

• December 15, 2011 1:24 a.m.

  I find I am salt sensitive. If I get more than 1800 mgs of salt a day, I put on 10 lbs of water, have pain in my right side between my ribs and hip. It takes me over a week, usually to shed the 10 lbs. I have hydronephrosis. My urologist says there is no connection with that and salt intake, but I think there is. My bloodpressure seems to be normal. Fortunately, I do most of my own cooking and can usually control the salt I eat. The problem starts when I have to eat out. One big dose of salt can make me suffer for over a week.

  - Valrita

• October 31, 2011 4:35 p.m.

  I should not eat any salt. My problem is that I have been having a terrible time finding receipes without salt. Can you help?

  - Marlene

• October 25, 2011 10:13 p.m.

  October 25, 2011 I cook and use it in my cooking and most times I salt it after it's cooked. I have perfect blood pressue, thankfully, on the low side. I don't eat out very often or cook frozen dinners. Most of the time restaurant food needs salt. Food cooked without salt is tasteless. However,canned soups and many other foods have an overabundance of salt and these companies should take drastic measures to cut the salt content in half. Sugar is another ingredient that is overused.

  - Ruth

• October 7, 2011 9:41 p.m.

  I do not eat a lot of processed foods and limit our family's restaurant visits. However, sometimes I am a captive audience with little choices with travel. I would choose more restaurants with lower salt in their menu in a heartbeat!

  - BusyMom

• October 7, 2011 3:02 p.m.

  I have recently had a stroke. Luckily with no obvious side effects. I now watch my salt very strictly. I am in favor of legislation to reduce salt in restaurants and pe-packaged foods. We need a great deal more education on the effects of salt in our dies.

  - Marilyn

• August 31, 2011 12:39 p.m.

  Would cheer lower sodium in all foods. I am fanatic about avoiding salt, I cook with almost no salt and never add salt to soup except for potato. Avoid processed foods to avoid salt. Like sugar once you stop eating salt you don't even miss it.

  - Marianne

• August 31, 2011 12:38 p.m.

  Would cheer lower sodium in all foods. I am fanatic about avoiding salt, I cook with almost no salt and never add salt to soup except for potato. Avoid processed foods to avoid salt. Like sugar once you stop eating salt you don't even miss it.

  - Marianne

• August 16, 2011 12:40 p.m.

  i have H.B.P. and exercise everyday, still H.B.P. my wife looked into processed foods and the salt content is off the scale for them, i have stopped eating processed foods and do not take any salt, my diet is of fresh meat, fish, veg, fruit. I have lost a total of 10 punds in one week, exercise is still the best for lowering Blooc Pressure. however if you notice in the mornings the blood pressure is at it's highest and this is where you need the control, so yes food does play a role in controlling your pressure, but exercise still in my opinon is the best medicne. Good luck everyone. I will continue to do both. By the way i am 71 years old and feel GREAT, did i say GREAT. Good luck Johnny the Brick

  - Brick

• July 2, 2011 11:51 a.m.

  Yes, I am in favor of the United States' regulation on salt!! One of the countries that is regulating salt in restaurants is Argentina. Furthermore, if the citizens of a country don't have any interest in caring for their health, the government should do it, in order to take care of their health and make them more responsible.

  - Enriqueta

• June 21, 2011 2:46 p.m.

  I am gratified to see that, while we should all strive to be responsible for our eating and health decisions, so many people ate now "getting it". This not the job of government oversight or regulation. Like smoking, you would have to have lived on a deserted island without access to media to know what's not healthy, in terms of food choices, including salt. I would remind my fellow freedom lovers, however, that we don't live in a vacuum and our choices do affect our neighbors and society, in general, ultimately, in a potentially negative way. Personal responsibility should always be the answer.

  - Barbara

• June 20, 2011 8:16 p.m.

  I would definitely favor a no trans-fat style campaign that would set low levels on the amount of salt used in food prepared in restaurants. Health should trump other considerations given the high percentage of Americans suffering from salt-intake related illnesses that left unchecked leads to death. Its long overdue for restaurants to join the back to good health campaign. With gainful participation this industry will not suffer economic losses. The will to become re-educated about food preparation is the vital first step in this direction which can be encouraged through government and health industry incentives.

  - Yaisa

• June 16, 2011 8:04 p.m.

  I took it upon myself to stop salting my food and I am enjoying a much lower blood pressure! I am learning to use herbs, spices,vinegars to replace salt. Food begins to taste better if it is not salted!!! I approve 100% in asking restaurants to stop salting foods!

  - Polly Graham

• June 11, 2011 7:55 p.m.

  I just posted a comment stating I would not approve of requiring restaurants to cut the salt in their menus. However, I would be in favor of doing something about the amount of salt in fresh meat in grocery stores. Since most of us cannot go hunting to acquire our meat supply, we are very dependent on grocery stores for that purpose. Yet fresh meat contains added salt, so a person on a very low sodium diet is almost forced to become a vegetarian. And I agree with another commenter that it would be very worthwhile to do things the American way (not through govt. regulation!) and request restaurants and food manufacturers to provide low sodium and zero sodium options. With so many people being health conscious these days, I am very surprised that restaurants and manufacturers have not picked up on that themselves.

  - Marie

• June 11, 2011 7:48 p.m.

  I would not be in favor of a ban on anything in restaurants, unless it is something that is illegal. The American people are not children who must be looked after by the elites in government. We have more than enough regulation as it is, and most of it is totally unconstitutional in my personal opinion. I am on a very low salt diet, but it is up to me to maintain it on my own. Making restaurants responsible for my diet is ridiculous. I am not a child, and they are not my babysitter, and the govt. has way too much power as it is.

  - Marie

• May 13, 2011 1:35 p.m.

  I am not in favor of goverment regulating our lives, people of the United States are free and should be able to choose what and how they eat. We don't want a nanny state people of the US do not need a nanny state. More regulations will just take away the freedoms that this country stands for, no to any goverment regulation.

  - Dawn

• April 18, 2011 8:02 a.m.

  I started a food company with seasonings and mixes that are all salt free. Most are sugar free also. All natural with no preservatives or MSG added. I'm a RN and have worked in the food industry, so I know that we add salt to increase flavor profiles. The problems start when we try to make poor quality food taste better by adding too much salt. Salt is the hidden sin in most food products at the grocery stores. As a nurse & person with family history of heart disease, this is a very important issue to me. Thank you for this information.

  - Sheila

• April 4, 2011 10:58 a.m.

  I absolutely WISH there would be a big movement by restaurants and companies as well as the FDA to greatly reduce the amount of sodium in foods. It is essential to our health. The amount of sodium found in restaurant food and processed foods is alarming and totally unnecessary. Our busy lifestyles often lead us to eating out or prepared foods and I am finding it very difficult to find lower sodium choices. I am all for this!

  - Susan