Love salt? It might be time to cut back.
The government revealed new dietary guidelines in order to encourage people to reduce their salt intake.
Dietary guidelines are updated every five years and the new set recommends that African-Americans with a history of hypertension, diabetes or kidney issues to limit their daily salt intake to a half a teaspoon.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced the changes at a news conference in Washington, D.C. on Monday.
“The emphasis is on good nutrition and watching what you eat.” Vilsack said. “We are interested about calories in and calories out.”
The daily recommendation for everyone else is no more than 2,300 milligrams or one teaspoon of salt. The new guidelines also suggest that individuals eat less than 10 percent of their calories from saturated fats by replacing them with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Cholesterol should be limited to 300 milligrams.
These new recommendations, as stated in a news release, are made in the hopes to “promote health, reduce the risk of chronic diseases and reduce prevalence of overweight and obesity through improved nutrition and physical activity.”
“The policy document assists policy makers, nutrition professionals, food-assistance program administrators, food industry, scientists and academics and the nutrition-focused media with a consistent, science-based foundation for their nutrition efforts.”