IS THE SALT IN YOUR DIET KILLING YOU?



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We have all probably heard that eating salt causes high blood pressure! But is it a big deal? A recent MSN news story stated that 800,000 Americans die each year due to diseases related to high blood pressure ((kidney disease, heart disease, and strokes).

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention found that 9 out of 10 Americans exceed the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) of 2300 mg. This is the standard adopted in North American as the highest intake level that is likely to pose no risk of adverse health effects. It is equal to 1 teaspoon of salt a day.

Canadians are no different from their southern neighbours. The average Canadian eats more than 3400 milligrams of salt daily. Even without adding salt to food, it is there in our diet.

Only 1500 mg of salt is needed daily to support health. Sodium is needed in the body to regulate fluids and blood pressure, and to keep muscles and nerves running smoothly. People with high blood pressure, kidney disease, diabetes and over the age of 50 years should be adhering to an upper limit of 1500 mg.

 So we think we are okay because we don't add salt to our food and rarely snack on chips... But did you know the biggest source of salt is bread and buns. Not because it contains the most salt but we eat several servings each day that add up. According to a US study Americans get 44% of their salt from the following foods which are listed from the highest salt source to lowest: bread and buns, cold cuts and cured meat, pizza, poultry, soups, hamburgers, sandwiches, cheese, pasta dishes, meat loaf, chips and pretzels. The processed foods and restaurant meals contain even more salt than usual.

I am a little embarrassed to admit the food in the picture above came from my kitchen.

• The bagel contains 390 mg (or 26% of the daily value) based on limit of 1,500 mg a day.
• The can of mushroom soup contains 2250 mgs of salt which is well over the tolerable upper limit for my age group. When you look at the label on the can it states the sodium % based on the serving size and daily limit of 2300 mg. But this label in my opinion is misleading. The serving size is a ½ cup of soup. I don’t know about you - but I eat most, if not, a whole 10 oz. can of soup.
• Even the Healthy Choice – Chicken with Rice Soup contains 960 mg in the can of ~ 2 cups and according to the label it contain 40% less sodium that leading competitors. It is interesting to note that American Heart Association put its sign of approval on this can of soup. In the small print it states the food meets their criteria for saturated fat and cholesterol healthy people for children over the age of 2.

That reminds me of a Fifth Estate program I saw about sodium. The chief nutritionist of the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation was questioned why she would be recommending canned soups with high sodium levels. I can’t find the documentary in the CBC archives so it must have been a number of years ago. However, I clearly recall hearing that packaged foods in Canada have a higher content of salt than American foods. I was flabbergasted to hear the food manufacturers had somehow decided that Canadians had bigger appetites for salt and demand it! You have to wonder if this is still the case.

Governments are now looking at ways to influence the sodium content of Canadian and American diets. In the U.S. they predict they can save billions of dollars in health care costs if they can reduce the average sodium intake by 20%. In Canada, they have set a goal to reduce the average Canadian consumption of sodium to 2300 mg by 2016.

• You may hear some people saying that the government has no role in their food choices. Remind those people that they can always get out the salt shakers and add extra salt to their food, if health is not a consideration.

 In the meantime, we can choose to avoid certain manufacturers that add too much sodium to their products. From what I have seen with Campbell’s soup, this may be one place to start. And remember to read the labels to find food that is truly sodium- reduced, not just advertised as such.  

Government Regulations of BPA

GOVERNMENT REGULATION OF BPA

CANADA:

• In 2006, the  Chemicals Management Plan was introduced to review the safety of widely-used chemicals that have been in the marketplace for many years, and to update our knowledge and understanding of these chemicals.

•  In 2008 Canada banned baby bottles containing BPA. They also proposed declaring BPA toxic because of reproductive and developmental toxicity and environmental effects.

• On October 13, 2010, BPA was declared a toxic chemical by the Canadian government and added it to Schedule 1 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act.  Canada was the first country to make this declaration.

•  The American Chemistry Council, a Washington- based industry group criticized Canada’s decision. This lobby group speaks on behalf of a $10B a year industry.

•  On December 2, 2010 (less than 2 months later) Health Canada backed down and published this statement “exposure to BPA though food packing is not expected to pose a health risk to the general population, including newborns and infants”

UNITED STATES:

• The FDA approved the use of BPA in the 1960s. And in 1976, BPA was included in a list of more than 60,000 chemicals deemed safe by the US Toxic Substances Control Act

•  In 2008, a National Toxicology Program at the Department of Health and Human Services said it had "some concern" about the possible health effects of BPA on the brain, behaviour and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children. Nonetheless, months later, the FDA said the chemical was completely safe.  Subsequently, the FDA review board rejected this conclusion.

•  In January 2010, the FDA released a new statement, saying that BPA is of "some concern" for infants and children. Around this time, the Obama administration announced $30M in funding to “answer key questions about the chemical that will help determine what action, if any, is necessary to protect public health.”

•  The FDA was sued in July 2010 by the Natural Resources Defence Council for failure to respond to their petition with 18 months as required by law. This petition called upon the FDA to ban the use of biphenyl A (BPA) in food packaging, food containers, and other materials likely to come into contact with food.

•  The court decision was released in December 2011 which called upon the FDA to make a final decision about BPA by March 31, 2012.

OTHER COUNTRIES:

• In December 2010, the European Union (EU) passed legislation that requires testing and classifying chemicals before they can be put into products.

•  On May 31, 2011, the EU banned the sale of baby bottles containing BPA.

• China and the European Union have enacted legislation prohibiting and restricting the use of endocrine disruptors (including BPA) in commercial products.

                                             

My next blog on BPA presents an overview of the plethora of research done on BPA. Some scientists have been working on it for more than 20 years and they are calling for public input to move the politicians. Someone has to speak up for our environmental health and we need to counter the lobby group for the chemical industry.

BPA IS TOXIC - HOW DO WE AVOID IT?

BPA (bisphenol A) is a polycarbonate chemical used in consumer and medical products to soften plastics. BPA was declared a toxic chemical by the Canadian government in October 2010.

You will still find it in:

• the coatings of canned foods
•    plastic bottles
•    plastic food storage containers and baggies
•    Beverage containers  
•   baby toys
• aluminum cans ....

I know BPA has been in the news for years and many of us have just assumed that something has been done about it already. Well, it is no longer in baby bottles in Canada and some reputable manufacturers have removed it from some beverage containers.  You will recognize the beverage containers because they have BPA free symbols on them.  If there is no symbol on the bottle, assume that it contains BPA. 

BPAs have been found in 90% of Canadians and 93% of Americans (according to studies).



JUST HOW CONCERNED SHOULD WE BE?

Many studies have been done on “our friends” the lab rats over the years and the studies have moved onto the correlation of BPA and disease states in humans in recent years. Here is the long list of harmful effects mentioned in the literature:

 

• Impaired, altered, and compromised immune system and functions
• Cancer (breast, prostate, and uterine)
• Cardiovascular disease
• Diabetes
• Asthma
• Behaviour problems
• Hyperactivity
• Increased aggression
• Elimination of sex differences in behaviour
• Anxiety and depression in female children
• Impaired learning and memory
• Liver abnormalities  
• Reproductive disorders 
• impaired female reproductive development and miscarriage
• Lower sperm counts and sperm defects
• Chromosome abnormalities
• Down’s , Turner and Klinefelter Syndromes

I am worried. Are you ?

When you look at this list you have to wonder whether BPAs are responsible for the increase in lupus and other autoimmune diseases. Does BPA play a role in what seems to be increasing cancer rates in younger age groups?  Could BPA be the main culprit in the increased incidents of aggressive, violent behaviour in females and increasing behaviour problems in children. And how about the decreasing performance of boys in schools?
 

 JUST HOW DO WE PROTECT OURSELVES?

•          Buy foods in glass jars and store foods in glass containers, porcelain or stainless          steel containers. 
•         Never buy plastic water bottles especially in hot climates. Heat increases the release of the toxic chemical. Just think how much heat those plastic bottles have been exposed to when transporting them or while sitting in your car. 
•         Buy BPA free beverage containers. 

I just bought a BRITA BPA free water bottle (officially the Bottle Water Filtration System) to carry filtered water to the tennis courts, the gym and outside activities. Drinking sufficient water is critical to health of the kidneys - a very important consideration for people with lupus.

The Washington Post published an article announcing the EAU good water bottle will be hitting American stores later this month. See blackandblum.com for more info about this charcoal-filtered water bottle.

•         Eat homemade soups or those stored in tetra paks. Yes, the tetra paks are not good for the environment either but at least you are not being exposed to a toxic chemical.
•          Don’t heat up plastic containers – either in the microwave or the dishwasher (despite what the American Chemistry Council might say).
•          Don’t eat canned foods if you can avoid it. Most cans contain PBA.
•        Do not use plastics including shopping bags which are releasing BPAs into the environment from landfills.
•         If you must occasionally use plastic, recycle it.

WHERE ARE THE GOVERNMENT PROTECTION AGENCIES IN REGULATING THIS TOXIC CHEMICAL?

Well, that is another topic in itself – find out in the next blog.