By Sabrina Divell
April 16, 2008

- Statistics Canada

In celebration of Nutrition Month and healthy eating, dietitians at St. Joseph's Health Centre are educating staff, patients and visitors about how they can reduce their daily sodium intake.

According to Statistics Canada, the average Canadian consumes more than 3,100 mg of sodium a day - most of which is hidden in processed foods. The Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, with input from Canadian and American scientists issued a new Sodium Policy in 2007 with a goal of reducing sodium intake in adult Canadians' daily diets to between 1,200 and 2,300 mg per day by January 1, 2020. Research shows that reducing sodium intake within the context of a healthy diet can substantially reduce the incidence of hypertension among Canadians who have normal blood pressure.

St. Joseph's Health Centre's is implementing new initiatives and standards with an over all goal of reducing the use of sodium in hospital food by 2020, while educating the public on how they can continue these efforts in their own kitchens at home.

"This new sodium policy is a country wide strategy that St. Joseph's Health Centre's Nutrition Services is supporting by gradually modifying the hospital's patient menus and by educating patients on ways they can reduce daily sodium intake so they can continue a healthy lifestyle when they leave the hospital and return to the community," said Bernice Yee, Director of Nutrition and Commercial Operations..

The Health Centre is currently reviewing its patient menus and working towards long-term strategies that will reduce an average patient's sodium intake to an average of 2,300 mg per day, which is the ultimate goal of the Canadian government by 2020.

"The reason this sodium policy has a 10-year implementation plan is because it requires a lot of cooperation from the media, nutrition educators and food manufacturers to understand the importance of reducing sodium in diets and to move towards that goal for the public," said Yee.

This chart from Blood Pressure Canada shows the potential reduction in death and hypertension from a reduction in dietary sodium of 1,840 mg/day in Canada:

Disease	Benefit
Death from stroke	1 in 7 deaths prevented
Death from coronary heart disease	1 in 11 deaths prevented
Deaths from any cause	1 in 14 deaths prevented
Hypertension	1 in 6 cases of hypertension prevented

"In the end, by reducing your sodium intake you are helping to reduce your risk of diseases and improve your overall quality of life," said Marcia Sivilotti, Clinical Dietitian for St. Joseph's Health Centre. "Small dietary changes can go a long way. By just eliminating or reducing the amount of salt you use in cooking or at the table you can reduce your daily sodium intake by a significant amount. Most people are shocked when I tell them that 1 tsp or 5mL of salt contains 2,300mg of sodium, which alone exceeds the daily sodium recommendations." said Sivilotti.

St. Joseph's Dietitians have always been promoting and educating patients about how much sodium intake is included in a healthy lifestyle, and now this new sodium policy is helping to support their work, said Sivilotti.

On Thursday, March 20th, John Butler, Chef Manager for St. Joseph's Lakeside Café, will be demonstrating how a reduced sodium meal is very tasty and healthy by serving up a special meal in the cafeteria for lunch: Citrus Roasted Chicken Breast. Lakeside Café customers will be able to take the recipe home and see first hand the nutritional value this simple mean provides. The Health Centre's Dietitians will also be handing out information on other low sodium recipes, and general nutrition tips.

Other ways you can reduce the sodium in your diet according to Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada:

• Use Canada's Food Guide and the Nutrition Facts table to help lower your sodium intake. Eating Well with Canada's Food Guide recommends choosing foods from each food group that are lower in sodium and preparing foods with little or no added salt.
• Read nutrition labels to make informed food choices. Almost all prepackaged foods have a Nutrition Facts table, making it easier to see how much sodium is in any given food. The label will give you the amount of sodium in the specific amount of food listed.
• Check the percentage of the Daily Value (%DV) for sodium. The %DV tells you at a glance if there is a lot or a little of a nutrient in that specific amount of food. Use the %DV to compare food products.
• Since most people get more sodium than is healthy from prepackaged foods and meals purchased outside of the home, reduce your sodium consumption by choosing these foods less often.
• Choose more fresh, unprocessed foods to eat or prepare at home in place of prepackaged, convenience foods and choose plenty of fruits and vegetables. Fruits and vegetables are also higher in potassium which is a factor in reducing the risk of high blood pressure.
• Look for foods with claims such as "salt-free" (less than 5 mg of sodium per serving), "low in sodium" (140 mg of sodium or less per serving), or "reduced in sodium" (at least 25 percent less than the regular product).
• Remember that there is no need to add salt to children's food. Check the Nutrition Facts table to help choose foods aimed at children that are lower in sodium.
• When dining out, order dressings and sauces on the side and use sparingly. Before you eat at a fast food restaurant, ask for nutrition information to see how much sodium is in the food on their menu. Many chains now make nutrition information available online or posted in their outlets.

In 2004, regardless of their age, Canadians' average daily intake of sodium was far beyond the recommended upper intake level (UL):

• Males consumed more sodium than females, with intakes above 4,000 mg/day for those aged 14 to 30.
• Among people aged 9 to 70, over 85% of males and between 60% to 80% of females had usual sodium intakes that surpassed the recommended UL.

Even young children consume too much sodium:

• Children aged 1 to 3 averaged close to 2,000 mg a day in 2004. In this age group, 77% of children exceeded the recommended daily UL.
• Among 4- to 8-year-olds, daily intake averaged 2,700 mg, and 93% had consumed more than the UL.

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