The Checkup Archive: Sodium

Ranch dressing revisited

Ranch is often offered to children along with cut-up vegetables or baby carrots. Like the spoonful of sugar that makes the medicine go down, the ranch dip makes vegetables more palatable to kids who might otherwise shun them. But full-fat ranch is high in fat and calories, and reduced-fat versions are packed with sodium. Is it really such a great idea to induce kids to eat vegetables by loading those carrot sticks with such nutrition-unfriendly glop?

By Jennifer LaRue Huget  | March 8, 2011; 7:00 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (15)
Categories:  Childhood obesity, Dietary Guidelines, Family Health, Kids' health, Nutrition and Fitness, Parenting, School Nutrition, Sodium  
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Is that right? Drinking diet soda increases stroke risk?

I don't typically report on research that's not yet been published in a peer-reviewed journal. But the provocative study about diet soda and stroke risk presented this week at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles has generated enough confusion to warrant some attention here.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget  | February 11, 2011; 7:00 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (11)
Categories:  Cardiovascular Health, Is That Right?, Nutrition and Fitness, Sodium, Strokes  
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Is 1,500 mg of sodium a realistic goal?

Even if you don't add salt at the stove or the table, it's hard to keep your sodium intake that low. Packaged and processed foods and restaurant meals are by far our biggest sources of sodium; even skim milk delivers a dose. You'd have to cook practically everything you eat from scratch to stay within 1,500 mg a day.

By Jennifer LaRue Huget  | November 2, 2010; 7:00 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (4)
Categories:  Dietary Guidelines, Nutrition and Fitness, Sodium  
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