Sodium Intake Essay

Having a balanced diet is key to living a healthy long life, and it reduces the chance of contracting a preventable disease. Consuming too much or too little of certain aspects of your diet can have significant effects on the life you live. Sodium intake is a major problem the world faces, especially in the United States. Restaurants, fast food establishments, and processed food companies add salt to most of their dishes or products to add taste and give it a longer shelf life. When tracking my food intake this week, I realized I am apart of the majority that consumes too much sodium in my diet. Convenient foods that take little to no time too prepare that are loaded with sodium and other chemicals quickly add up in unexpected ways.
Tracking …show more content…
It looks at all the perceived thoughts both positive and negative along with social and situational aspects. When limiting sodium intake in my diet, I had a lot of conflicting thoughts about it. I knew a potential barrier to the action would be a convenience problem. Living off campus and having to cook my own meals takes a lot of time. Many days I have too much homework to make myself a full meal, which results in me eating something easy to make. These meals are loaded with sodium. Another construct to this model is interpersonal influences. My roommates and I do a lot of activities together such as eating. When everyone else wants to go get fast food or make something together it is hard to say no and separate from the group because they aren’t trying to eat better is hard and takes a lot of self-control. Lastly, situation influences affect this model. Healthy foods cost more money. It is hard to find affordable healthy options when on a college budget. I have to prioritize my health over other activities I want to do to make sure I have money to eat …show more content…
My sodium intake for those days was at an all time low. I was about to eat foods that gave me all of the nutrients that I need, but without all of the extra chemicals and sodium. The days I ate like this, I felt like I had a lot of extra energy and didn 't feel tired. Although this approach was successful and beneficial, it is not realistic in my life. After these days, I was bored of the limited options I had to eat and was ready to go back to my old eating habits. I learned that while completely cutting out processed foods may not be an option, I could significantly reduce how often I eat them. I can snack on raw vegetables rather than chips. Little steps like this can radically reduce the sodium I intake in a