You deserve a break from sodium today. Researchers from the New York City Health Department report that a typical fast-food lunch contains as much sodium as many people should consume in an entire day. They studied the receipts for 6,580 lunches bought at 11 different fast-food chains by ordi-nary consumers, adding up the sodium content. The average was a whopping 1,751 milligrams. Thats nearly as much as the federal dietary guidelines 2,300-milligram limit for an entire day, and more than the 1,500 milligrams the government recommends for everyone over age 40, African-Americans and those with hypertension.About 57% of the lunches purchased exceeded the 1,500-milligram mark. The chains with the most sodium in a typical lunch were KFC and Popeyes, both emphasizing chicken dishes, with Mc-Donalds actually the lowest. But lunches at the burger giant still averaged a high 1,477 milligrams. Researchers noted, Fast food is not only a high-calorie but also a high-sodium food.TO LEARN MORE: Archives of Internal Medicine, April 25, 2010.
