…And Bells on Her Toes

Have you ever thought about how much salt is in something you eat, or drink?  I hadn’t really thought about this before this past week.  It had crossed my mind at times when I’d see my hubby pouring the salt on his already salty fries and asking him to stop because of his high blood pressure.  I’d get a guffaw and a smart ass remark along with some eye rolling.  Now we seem to watch for it every day.

Since Alex’s diagnosis, we’ve been on the watch for the culprit in everything.  He doesn’t eat out anymore because most foods are laden with salt, potassium and phosphorus – the three no-nos for failed kidneys.  The hospital gave us a lot of material which lists items he can eat and which ones he must stay away from.  Who knew his beloved Coca-Cola would end up on the ‘do not drink’ list?  It’s high in Phosphorus apparently.

Here’s some fast food sodium facts (see if this doesn’t scare you into eating a little more healthy) – remember for an average person aged 9-50, the recommended daily limit is 1,500 mg:

KFC:
- French Fries (Mega Sized) = 1,000 mg sodium
- Big Crunch Sandwich = 1,820 mg sodium
- Popcorn Chicken = 1,290 mg sodium
- Poutine = 2,610 mg sodium!! That’s almost two days worth of salt in one small side dish!!

McDonald’s:
- Big Mac = 1,020 mg sodium
- Cheeseburger = 750 mg sodium
- Quarter Pounder with Cheese = 1,110 mg sodium
- Large fries = 430 mg sodium
- 10 McNuggets = 1,120 mg sodium
- Egg McMuffin (without sausage) = 760 mg sodium

Wendy’s:
- Chicken BLT Salad = 1,210 mg sodium
- Large Chili = 1,240 mg sodium
- Baconator (Alex’s favourite) = 1,880 mg sodium
- Triple with everything (YUCK!) = 2,010 mg sodium

Harvey’s:
- Angus Burger with Bacon and Cheese = 1,390 mg sodium
- Original Cheeseburger = 1,130 mg sodium

This list doesn’t even touch saturated fat, trans fat or cholesterol … makes your head spin, doesn’t it?  So, if you were to strictly follow the 1,500 mg a day recommend intake of sodium, you could eat any one of the above (except for KFC’s Poutine, Big Crunch or Wendy’s Baconator or Triple with everything) … and that’s it.  Nothing else. Zip. Nada. Nichts.

Just about everything in the grocery store that we normally would buy is high in sodium too.  We have a lot of learning to do, a lot of label reading.  In the end it will be better for both of us, and our children if we can master this.  We have to.  We have no choice, my husband has IgA.