One of my relatives brought home a pamphlet about sodium from his doctor, and it recommends that he stick to five grams of salt a day.
That seems like an insane amount! Isn’t the recommendation no more than 2,300 milligrams a day?
– Lori Camancho
(Location withheld)
I actually got a similar question earlier this week while guest-lecturing at New York University!
One of the problems is that the words “sodium” and “salt” are — erroneously — used interchangeably by many people, including health professionals.
Remember, salt is composed of sodium and chloride. More specifically, salt is 40 percent sodium and 60 percent chloride.
Hence, five grams of salt equal 2,000 milligrams of sodium — perfectly within recommended guidelines.
I generally dislike recommendations that talk about grams of salt. Too many consumers are unaware — and not informed — of the difference between salt and sodium, and can end up thinking 5,000 milligrams of sodium a day are a-okay!
That seems like an insane amount! Isn’t the recommendation no more than 2,300 milligrams a day?
– Lori Camancho
(Location withheld)
I actually got a similar question earlier this week while guest-lecturing at New York University!
One of the problems is that the words “sodium” and “salt” are — erroneously — used interchangeably by many people, including health professionals.
Remember, salt is composed of sodium and chloride. More specifically, salt is 40 percent sodium and 60 percent chloride.
Hence, five grams of salt equal 2,000 milligrams of sodium — perfectly within recommended guidelines.
I generally dislike recommendations that talk about grams of salt. Too many consumers are unaware — and not informed — of the difference between salt and sodium, and can end up thinking 5,000 milligrams of sodium a day are a-okay!