Be Heart Smart
February is American Heart Month—isn’t it time you treated your heart right? One simple way is to pay attention to your salt intake; sodium increases your blood pressure, which can lead to increased risk of heart attack and stroke.
When was the last time you stopped to read the label on canned, processed or frozen foods? Items such as frozen dinners, packaged dinner/side dish products, canned veggies, vegetable juices, packaged deli meats, condiments and canned soups are loaded with salt.
The American Heart Association recommends that individuals consume less than 1,500 mg/day of sodium. One-half teaspoon of salt is equivalent to 1,150 mg sodium.
Taking just a few extra minutes in the grocery aisle to check the sodium content on food labels can make a big difference when it comes to your heart health.
Test your salt smarts
Do you know which processed food contains less salt?
- Potato chips or pretzels? Potato chips. Ounce for ounce, pretzels have more sodium than potato chips (385 milligrams for pretzels versus 149 milligrams for chips).
- American cheese or Swiss cheese? Swiss. Highly processed foods like American cheese tend to be high in sodium; one slice of American cheese packs 300 milligrams, versus 73 milligrams in Swiss.
- Marinara or alfredo sauce? Marinara. One-half cup of alfredo serves up 760 milligrams of sodium, while the same portion of marinara has 525.
Learn to win your heart over and visit the Cardiovascular Health Topics Center on your My Health Manager, powered by WebMD. Go to Cooperative.com > My Benefits > WebMD to get started. Once you are on MyHealth Manager, access the Cardiovascular Health Topic by clicking on “Health Information,” “All Topics” and then search for “Cardiovascular Health.”
The MyHealth Coaches program can also help you address many issues related to preventing and managing heart disease. Call 866.696.7322 to speak with a coach confidentially today!