This post is part of a larger piece on diabetes and health presented in collaboration with the Kettering Health Network Joslin Diabetes Center. Click here to read it from the beginning.
Managing Diabetes: Avoiding Excess Salt
“Let’s say you make a healthy snack like popcorn, but you put tons of salt on it,” said Studer. “So that salt from your stomach ends up in your blood stream and water follows that salt – eventually that water will get to your kidneys and they will get rid of that extra water, but until then your poor little heart is going to have to work harder to deal with that water. Essentially, you are giving yourself temporary high blood pressure when you eat a very salty meal”
Most Americans eat at least twice as much salt as is recommended. Studer suggested staying away from canned soup in particular, as it often has extremely high salt content. You can find salt on any food label. It is listed as sodium and will show both the quantity of salt and the % of the recommended daily amount of salt that quantity represents. In the past, fats were often categorized alongside sodium as foods to avoid. However, the truth about fats is more nuanced. Some fats are critical for good health, according to Studer.
Click to enlarge the image below to learn more about Nutrition Facts.
Continue reading to learn how to identify healthy and unhealthy fats.
