Food Labels: Sodium

Why do I, an optometrist, care about your sodium intake?  Increased sodium intake can affect your blood pressure (high blood pressure can affect you eyes), can affect your heart, can increase your risk of stroke (many stroke victims have resulting loss of vision), can cause dry eyes, can lead to contact lens discomfort (via dry eyes), can be related to puffy eyes and one study I found relates high sodium intake with cataracts (clouding of the lens inside of the eye). 

I recommend all my patients to monitor and limit their sodium intake, even if they do not have high blood pressure.

So, how do you monitor your sodium intake? The American Heart Association recommends that for every 1,000 Calories of food consumed, the sodium intake should be 1,000 mg and should not exceed the 3,000 mg limit.    How can you make sure you meet this equal ratio of calories to sodium intake?  BECOME A FOOD LABEL READING EXPERT!!!!!

Interpretation of food labels can be baffling but there is an easy way to keep your calories to sodium ratio close together.  Look at the number of calories per serving and compare that to the amount of sodium per serving.  You want the amount of sodium per serving to be equal or less than the number of calories per serving.  This is a rule of thumb advocated by a well-known registered dietitian, Jeff Novick. 

Here are some samples of food labels I found on the Internet:

Label I has 190 calories and 20 mg of sodium per serving.  Label II has 190 calories and 220 mg of sodium per serving.  Label III has 60 calories and 890 mg of sodium per serving.  Under Jeff Novick's rule of thumb for gauging the sodium, the item with Label I would be the best choice because the sodium amount is significantly lower than the number of calories.  Label II is better than Label III, but the sodium with the Label II item is still 16% more than the amount of calories.

Let's take a look at some items I found in our pantry: 

Which would be the better one to buy if you are concerned about sodium(and you are concerned about sodium, right?):

Option 1)  Quaker Oats 100% Natural Whole Grain Oatmeal.  Calories per serving: 150; Sodium per serving: 0

Option 2)   Quaker Oats Instant Oatmeal.  Calories per serving:  167; Sodium per serving:  324.76 mg.

#1 has no sodium and #2 has twice the amount of sodium compared to the calories...so the instant oatmeal may be quicker to fix but it is well worth making the regular oatmeal since it doesn't contain any sodium.



Here is another example:

We use couscous often in our meal plans because it is quick and easy to make with vegetables and beans. 

Option 1) Near East 100% Natural Couscous Mix with Wild Mushroom and Herb.  Calories 220.  Sodium 580. 

Option 2)  Rice Select Couscous Tri-Color with Sundried Tomato and Spinach.  Calories 160.  Sodium 0.

Sorry Near East, Looks like Rice Select is going to be our couscous choice going forward. 

Here are some videos featuring Jeff Novick, R.D.: