Higher amounts of sodium common in many supermarket foods, study finds

Health conscious consumer always look for health-friendly diets, however, these consumer must keep in mind that many foods look health-friendly, but they are not in actual. Only few are aware of the fact that low-fat products have higher amounts of sodium than full-fat foods.

These are the findings of a report that has been published online in Consumer Reports magazine Monday.

In their study, the researchers analyzed nearly 36 common consumer food products available at supermarkets and they found higher amounts of sodium in some unexpected products even including such products as didn’t taste salty.

Jamie Hirsh, who is a health editor at Consumer Reports, states in a news release: “We have found that many low-fat food products available in the markets have higher amounts of sodium, as sodium is used in these foods to compensate flavor.”

Dietary guidelines suggest that a healthy adult shouldn’t consume more than 2300mg of sodium in a day and similarly, it advises –middle-aged, black Americans and patients with high blood pressure–not to consume more than 1500mg of sodium in a day. However, the study finds that an average American has to consume 2,900 to 4,200 mg sodium in a day.

Higher amounts of sodium in diet boost the risk of hypertension, stomach cancer, kidney stones, asthma and osteoporosis.

Most of the Americans seem to consume a lot more amount of sodium than the recommended one and many foods that are higher in sodium are consumed on a regular basis and that’s why cut back is quite difficult.