Free Phil Parham by The Amazing Fitness Adventure for Your Kids Page A

3½ pounds of sodium in a year. That’s about 10 times more than the human body requires, which is about 500 milligrams of sodium per day. The Centers for Disease Control recommends that most adults should not consume more than 2,300 mg of sodium. If you are over 40, have high blood pressure, you should lower that to 1,500 mg. The amount is even less for children. The Mayo Clinic submits that kids 4 to 8 years old should consume no more than 1,200 mg of sodium per day. Children 9 years and older can stick with 1,500 mg per day.
    Why is excess salt so bad? It can lead to high blood pressure, kidney failure, and strokes. It increases the number of fat cells in your body and makes the ones you already have larger. It makes you more hungry and thirsty, and it slows down your metabolism. Those are just a few reasons to shake the salt from your diet!
    In the Parham household, we have seen how easy it is to consume too much salt. This is one reason why we read labels and buy low-salt versions of popular foods. When we reduced our salt intake, our taste buds opened up and we started enjoying food more. It’s amazing how pouring on the salt can detract from the natural flavorings in foods. To cut down on our sodium intake, we also stopped going to fast-food restaurants, stopped eating processed foods, and started using spices and chilies to flavor our food.
    Fat
    Most junk foods and drive-thru restaurant items contain a lot of fat. Not all fat is bad. We need some fat in our diet, but it should be no more than 30 percent of our daily calorie intake. The three basic fats and oils are unsaturated fat, saturated fat, and trans fat/hydrogenated oils. Good fats are unsaturated. We need them for energy and for our bodies to absorb vitamins and other important nutrients. Good fats and oils also help children grow and develop properly. Unsaturated fats are found in such foods as olive oil, canola oil, safflower oil, soybean oil, flax seed, walnuts, peanuts, and almonds.
    Saturated fats and trans fats are the bad kind that we need to look out for (read your food labels!). Saturated fats include butter, margarine, shortening, and the fat in animal products such as cheese and meat. While you don’t need to eliminate saturated fats completely, you should consume only a limited amount. Saturated fats can contribute to heart disease, clog your veins, and cause central nervous system problems.
    Trans fat is created when hydrogen is added to vegetable oil. They help increase the shelf life and flavor of foods. Trans fat is found in many processed foods such as cookies, cakes, crackers, and most fast foods. If you avoid these fats altogether, you will be on your way to better health.
    Many fast-food chains and food companies have gone out of their way to lower or eliminate trans fat in their foods. But now another dangerous fat is quickly garnering a lot of attention. Interesterified fat is the new fat to beware of. It is an oil that food scientists have created by moving fatty acids from one triglyceride molecule to another. Recent studies suggest that this type of fat may increase heart-disease risk by lowering HDL (good) cholesterol and raising LDL (bad) cholesterol. They also might increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. So food manufacturers have basically replaced a bad fat with a bad fat.
    If you’re confused about this, don’t worry. The key is not to eat high-fat foods, such as those found in fast-food chains and processed foods and foods that are fried or smothered in butter or oil. Fast food is the kicker. Stop eating it! Did you know that 33 percent of the USDA’s top 100 high-fat foods are fast foods? Drive away from the drive-thru. This is by far the quickest way to eliminate bad fats from your diet.
    Changing your eating habits around to better your health may seem like an insurmountable task, but it is doable. And you must do it if you want to be healthy and you want your children to be healthy and to reduce