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12 Sneaky Sodium Traps Sabotaging Your Looks

Erase under-eye bags and shrink your belly by avoiding these surprisingly salty offenders
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Salt is so in right now -- as in, in everything you eat. As any healthcare professional will tell you, our sodium intake is out of control. Both the American Heart Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that Americans are swilling as much as 3,600 milligrams of the stuff a day -- more than double the recommended intake of 1,500 milligrams max. We all might as well be walking around with our own personal salt licks. And surprise, surprise: all that salt is not doing your looks any favors.

Besides contributing to heart disease, high blood pressure and obesity, to name a few, OD-ing on salt dehydrates skin, which means more wrinkles, puffy eyes and dark circles. It also can make you bloated, which -- we don't have to tell you -- will not help you squeeze into those skinny jeans.

Cutting back on your salt intake isn't as easy as putting down the salt shaker, or avoiding the obvious culprits, like pretzels and chips. Salt is sneakier than you'd think, and it's hiding in many of the foods you'd least expect (grilled chicken, anyone?). To shrink your salt consumption, as well as the bags under your eyes, steer clear of these surprising sodium traps.

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California Roll
The damage: 450 mg in 3 pieces
Compared to: 2 ½ bags of Lay's Potato Chips: 450 mg

With all those omega-3s, sushi falls under the healthy column ... if you stick to sashimi and forgo soy sauce. One ounce of imitation crab, the bread and butter of popular California rolls, packs a whopping 238 milligrams. Factor in the salted seaweed wrap and the fact that 1 tablespoon of soy sauce clocks in at 1,000 milligrams of sodium and you're close to going over your daily sodium intake before you even eat an entire roll.

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Bagels
The damage: 490 mg per bagel
Compared to: 1 order of nachos at Taco Bell: 470 mg

Bagels might be on your "do not eat" list because of the refined carbs (which your body processes as pure sugar), but they're sodium villains as well. According to a report from the CDC, bread and rolls are actually the No. 1 source of sodium in the American diet, while more obvious offenders like chips and pretzels actually come in tenth on the list.

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Cottage Cheese
The damage: 360 mg in a 1/2 cup
Compared to: 4 Chicken McNuggets: 360 mg

Just when you thought cottage cheese was on your side this whole time. Dieters in search of muscle-building protein are better off with Greek yogurt, which has less than 100 milligrams of salt for the same serving size, and almost double the protein.

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Bloody Mary
The damage: 461 mg in 10 fluid ounces ... and that's just the mix
Compared to: 20 Ritz crackers: 420 mg

You may think this boozy brunch punch is your saving grace after a night out, but its high salt content will dehydrate you more than it will revive you. Don't let the celery stalk distract you. A few shakes of Tabasco, which has 179 milligrams in 1 ounce, can mean you're downing 640 milligrams of sodium before you even dig into your eggs Benedict.

BY ERICA SMITH | FEB 3, 2015 | SHARES
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