New nutritional guidelines not tough enough on salt, target sugar instead

Anticipated U.S. Department of Agriculture dietary guidelines came out Thursday and, as I wrote last February, they let up a bit on salt concerns to focus on sugar as the worst of the evil three of salt, fat and sugar that we all eat too much of in the typical American diet.

“The average person eats 3,400 milligrams of sodium a day, and the guidelines say everyone should lower that to 2,300, or about a teaspoon,” notes the New York Times report on the guidelines, which are issued every five years.

Salt gets off easy in the new dietary guidelines, too easy, I think.,

“Lowering sodium intake was the major push of the 2010 guidelines, and that document recommended that those most at risk of heart disease, or about half the population, lower their intake to 1,500 mg. The new guidelines delete that lower amount as part of the top recommendations. Later on, though, the report says those with high blood pressure and prehypertension could benefit from a steeper reduction,” the Times reports. Continue reading “New nutritional guidelines not tough enough on salt, target sugar instead” →

January 7, 2016 0

A noble experiment to help shoppers find low-sodium options

Finding low-sodium products in supermarkets is a constant battle I’ve been fighting and writing about for more than three years now. Items labeled healthy or even low-sodium may still have too much salt depending on how much you’d normally eat in a meal (serving sizes on packages bare little resemblance to what actual servings are for most people).

So I was interested to see a Connecticut supermarket is teaming up with a local hospital in Norwich to help shoppers there find low-sodium options.

A ShopRite store is working with a local hospital to give consumers information on low-sodium offerings.

I also was encouraged to see that low-sodium is being defined there as less than 140 mgs or sodium per serving. That means double the serving size would mean 280 mgs of sodium, acceptable to someone like me who is trying to eat less than 1,500 mgs of sodium a day. Continue reading “A noble experiment to help shoppers find low-sodium options” →

January 6, 2016 1

Another knock on processed meats, this one from WHO

Processed meats, such as hot dogs and cold cuts, are full of sodium and other things that have led me and many others to avoid them in recent years. I’m always amused by Subway calling its sandwiches healthy when they’re filled with high-sodium processed meats, for example.

Nathan's hot dogs and waffle fries, wondrous stuff. — Nathan’s hot dogs and waffle fries, wondrous stuff.

Another knock on processed meats came from the World Health Organization (WHO) recently. It pointed to a link between an increased likelihood of cancer and the consumption of processed meats. The report also threw in red meat as a possible cancer causer. Continue reading “Another knock on processed meats, this one from WHO” →

October 30, 2015 1

My second heart walk – a very moving experience

I recently participated in an annual event here in Chicago, an American Heart Association fund-raising heart walk, that I found profoundly moving for me.

Me with the heart mascot, sporting my survivor's cap and beads for each year since my 2012 surgery. — Me with the heart mascot, sporting my survivor’s cap and beads for each year since my 2012 surgery.

Survivors of heart attacks and strokes receive special heart association baseball caps for the event, red for heart attack survivors, white for stroke survivors. They, I, also get strings of mardi gras-like beads, one for each year they have survived. I received three strands of beads this year, the third since my 2012 angioplasty.

Putting that hat on brought me to tears in 2014, the first year I participated, and it did so again this year. It is the only affirmation I get, really, that I have survived a massively traumatic event and am still alive. Continue reading “My second heart walk – a very moving experience” →

September 29, 2015 0

Oreo maker plans healthy snacks? Really? Here’s the rub

Mondelez International, maker of Oreos, caught my attention last week when it said it wanted to make more healthy snacks.

“Management stated that it plans to offer more good-for-you snacks and expects 50% of its product portfolio to comprise “well-being” items by 2020 instead of one-third at present.

Mondelez has to compete with fruit for the healthy snack trade, can it?

“Apart from simplifying the ingredients and improving nutritional benefits of the existing products, the snacking giant will also develop products to cater to the growing consumer demand for healthier and natural items,” reported investment site Zacks.

Welcome to the dilemma facing major food processors today. I love Oreos, absolutely love them so know that I am not a Oreo basher by any means.

But I no longer eat them since having an angioplasty in 2012 because of my concerns about clogging my arteries and/or driving my blood pressure to unhealthy levels. Continue reading “Oreo maker plans healthy snacks? Really? Here’s the rub” →

September 14, 2015 0

Come hear me, other heart disease survivors talk about changing our lives

The major artery blockage I had in 2012 that nearly ended my life led to the creation of this blog. And that in turn has hopefully led to me helping otter people who find they need to completely change how they eat, either out of medical necessity or simply out of a desire to cut the massive amounts of salt, fat and sugar in most foods Americans routinely eat today.

The handouts I'll be bringing to a Mended Heart Group meeting this week. — The handouts I’ll be bringing to a Mended Heart Group meeting this week.

The blog has been a labor of love for me, as well as a great motivator to find and try new recipes that fit in my new low-salt, low-fat, low-sugar lifestyle. So I’m very excited to have a chance to talk about it this week with other heart disease survivors. I invite anyone in the Chicago area with an interest in such topics to stop by. Continue reading “Come hear me, other heart disease survivors talk about changing our lives” →

May 11, 2015 0

Panera dropping ingredients; how about cutting the salt?

Panera is joining a growing list of food companies and restaurant chains that are dropping ingredients consumers are increasingly uneasy about eating. But the St. Louis-based chain’s announcement didn’t mention cutting salt, as far as I could tell from published reports.

Miss you Panera, get the salt out of your menu please!

Panera positions itself as being healthier than fast food, but like others who do the same, Subway, Chipotle, or Chicago’s Protein Bar, that positioning largely ignores the massive amounts of salt their offerings still contain. Continue reading “Panera dropping ingredients; how about cutting the salt?” →

May 5, 2015 5

A low-salt brown gravy mix? Taste was ok, but salt is still high

I was recently at Food 4 Less looking for a low-fat, low-salt brown gravy to have with some left-over turkey we had brought home from my in-laws house on Easter. Most prepared gravies are very high in salt, even the fat-free varieties. I have found a salt-free gravy online but didn’t have time to order it in this instance.

So after comparing all the prepared gravies and finding them all too high in salt and fat, I looked at the mixes section. Gravy mixes normally are loaded with salt too but I was surprised to find a reduced salt offering in the Kroeger store brand.

Kroger's reduced sodium brown gravy had less salt than prepared gravies but the taste was just ok, it still tasted salty to me. — Kroger’s reduced sodium brown gravy had less salt than prepared gravies but the taste was just ok, it still tasted salty to me.

Kroger reduced sodium gravy nutrition info

I bought two packets and mixed the contents with water to make my turkey gravy. Each quarter cup, prepared had 210 mgs of sodium, so if you use half a cup, you’re at 410 mgs, about a fifth of my daily salt limit.That’s a significant amount for a condiment. The taste was ok, nothing to write home about.

Would I buy this again? I suppose, but not with a lot of enthusiasm.
John

April 16, 2015 0

Pure and Simple lunchmeat? Not simple enough

Pure and Simple apparently is a new brand of lunchmeat from processor Land O’ Frost. I saw a coupon for it in my local paper recently and was intrigued. All lunch meats have too much salt for me, and for most people really. Some brands have tried to take out some salt, but as far as I’m concerned, their salt content is still too high.

I was hoping this new Pure and Simple line might be different. The coupon ad highlights that this line contains no antibiotics, no animal byproducts and no nitrates/nitrites. Bravo for all of that, especially the last since those have been linked to cancer.

I was hoping this new line of lunchmeats had less or no sodium. It has a lot, avoid it.

But when I searched out salt content for the new line, I was disappointed. Two ounces of Land O Frost Pure and Simple – Honey Roasted Turkey Breast has 380 mgs of sodium, according to myfitnesspal.com. that compares to 360 mgs in 51 grams, about 1.7 ounces, of the same company’s Simply Delicious line of lunchmeats, so it’s really no improvement. It is less than its Premium line which has 510 mgs of sodium in 50 grams of its turkey.

Two ounces of turkey is not a meal for anyone really. I’d need at least six or eight in a sandwich, which would be a day’s worth of sodium for me. So I’ll continue to avoid cold cuts to maintian my low sodium diet.
John

April 15, 2015 0

Drink plenty of water…oh wait, maybe not

One of the most basic tenets of post-angioplasty health these days is to drink plenty of water. I was told to drink at least two liters a day, about 64 ounces, which I pretty much do regularly, if for no other reason than there’s not much I can eat during a given day, so water has become my snack.

My Super Big Gulp days are over when it comes to diet soda, I given it up for water on the advice of nutritionists...who didn't mention arsenic in water could be a cause of my heart troubles. — My Super Big Gulp days are over when it comes to diet soda, I given it up for water on the advice of nutritionists…who didn’t mention arsenic in water could be a cause of my heart troubles.

So imagine how I felt in reading a recent New York Times article saying that the very water I drink could have caused my heart problems!!! Continue reading “Drink plenty of water…oh wait, maybe not” →

November 5, 2014 0

Category: blood pressure