As discussed yesterday I have come to the conclusion that one of the reasons I was overweight as a kid had to do with the packaged/frozen dinners that were staples in my family. Sure these dinners were convenient, fast, and cheap, but at what cost? Next we will look at the most harmful ingredients that come in these meals. Just as a side note, I know that we need a few of these ingredients in our daily lives, but the amount that are added to these foods are way more than needed.
Salt
As many of you who know me know, I hate salt. I do not put much of it on my food, if any. I also try my hardest to avoid high amounts in any food. To put how much salt is in these dinners let's think first of the fact that we are only suppose to have 2300 mg of sodium a day according to the FDA. Although doctors and other researchers say you don't need more than 1500mg a day. Now lets look at how much one serving of good ole Hamburger Helper has.
For just one serving (which there are four in the box) the amount of sodium is 913 mg, and to be honest who is going to be full on just one serving? That is over 60 percent of what you need daily in just one serving of food! Did you know that most of us eat between 4 and 6 grams of sodium in a day?!?
So why is too much salt bad? First thing too much salt will do is allow your body to retain more water than what is needed, which adds weight to your body which in turn makes your heart work that much harder. High salt has also been linked to higher blood pressure in patients.
Tune in tomorrow for ingredient number 2!
Where's part 2?
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