Clinical Perspective
-While many studies have quantified total daily sodium intake, this paper was the first to do so by dietary source. This article allows the clinician to identify "hidden" sources of sodium that contribute to the patient's hypertension.
-Since processed and food eaten out of the home contain the vast majority of our sodium intake and cooking/table salt very little, asking patients how much they add to their food is of relatively little clinical value. Patients may indeed be adding nominal amounts of salt to their food but consuming large quantities found within processed products or cafeteria fare.
-I focus on how often the patient eats outside the home and what processed foods (cheeses, deli meats, canned/frozen items, sausage, nuts)
are consumed at home.
-If patients can decrease their processed food intake, they are pleasantly surprised to learn that they need not not heavily restrict the amount of salt added during meal preparation or at the table.
-Short comings of this paper include a possible lack of generalizability given the young age and self-selected nature of the cohort.
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