The Food That Accounts for One-Fifth of Your Sodium Intake

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There are the foods that are undoubtedly full of salt, like potato chips and fast food, which you can try to avoid. Then there are the sneakier sodium-laden items, like canned soups or jarred tomato sauces. But even if you're a dedicated reader of nutritional labels, you might be surprised to learn where Americans are getting a ton of their sodium: sandwiches.

A new study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics found that only any given day, 49 percent of Americans are eating a sandwich. It's a big number, but not super-surprising considering their convenience, low cost, and (perceived) healthfulness. But the research found that those sandwich-eaters also had significantly higher sodium intakes.

Researchers examined data from the What We Eat in America, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009-2010 (the latest available iteration of the survey). The sample consisted of 5,762 adults aged 20 or older who recalled what they'd eaten in the past 24 hours via in-person interviews. The experts then looked at participants' intake of energy (in calories) and sodium (in milligrams).

More men than women reported eating sandwiches (54 percent versus 44 percent), with men taking in a mean of 350 calories from their sandwiches and women 200 calories. Those numbers don’t sound especially high for a whole meal, but the eye-popping stats come from how much sodium they took in from those sandwiches: on average, 902 milligrams for men and 489 milligrams for women. (The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends a daily limit of 2,300 milligrams, so that comes out to about 21 percent of women's recommended sodium intake.) Throughout the day, the women who reported eating a sandwich also wound up consuming way more than the recommended sodium limit: 3,157 milligrams. 

These findings make sense since sandwiches tend to be salt bombs—after all, bread, cold cuts, and cheese all contain high levels of sodium.

You may already be avoiding chips and fast food, but you can make your sandwiches healthier, too. See which cheeses are the saltiest—and which ones you can swap in to the mix. You might also want to check out which foods are deceptively salty (whole-wheat pita, how could you do this to us?). And then experiment with other recipes that show you how to cut the sodium without sacrificing flavor.