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medpundit |
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Thursday, February 12, 2004Food labels today set maximum daily sodium consumption at 2,400 milligrams, about a heaping teaspoon of salt. The new recommendation is that most people get just 1,500 milligrams a day. Yet women today eat, on average, twice that amount, and men eat even more. But not enough potassium: The panel's report urges Americans to eat more potassium: 4,700 milligrams a day, roughly double current consumption. Potassium lowers blood pressure and reduces the risk of kidney stones and bone loss. Between counting the carbohydrates and the fats and the calories, and now the salt, what is an average person to do? Well, evidently, drink all the beer and coffee you want: The institute, an independent body that advises the federal government on health matters, set general recommendations for water intake based on dozens of studies that show women on average need about 91 ounces of water a day and men about 125 ounces. Food, coffee and even beer or other drinks all contribute, so it is impossible to say how many glasses of plain water someone should drink, the panel said. Only those who are very physically active or who live in hot climates may need to drink more water, the researchers said. That's the ticket. The full liquid diet. (Just joking. I don't time to go look up the data. Paperwork beckons....) UPDATE: That should have been "don't have the time..." I was more rushed than I thought. posted by Sydney on 2/12/2004 08:50:00 AM 0 comments 0 Comments: |
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