Food contains other forms of sodium but for simplicity we have converted all the sodium to salt equivalents. Most Western nation individuals consume 10 grams or two teaspoons of salt each day – about 20 times more than the body needs.

The recommended sodium intake for Australian adults is equivalent to six grams or about one teaspoon of salt per day.

This does not mean that we can add up to a teaspoon of salt to food because the figure already includes salt used in cooking as well as the natural salt content of fresh food.

How much salt is in fast food? Have a look below (from CHOICE Magazine)

Salt Content of Fast Foods and Home Cooked Meals

Food Salt content (grams)
Kentucky Fried Chicken (2 pieces of chicken, roll, potato and gravy, coleslaw) 3.0
Pizza Hut meal (ham and pineapple pizza and salad) 6.1
Fish and Chips 3.3
Pork in plum sauce 7.2
BUT
Home-cooked steak and vegetables 0.8

We eat much more salt than we think. Foods like fish fingers, salad dressing, tomato sauce, luncheon meats, cheese, canned vegetables, Vegemite, packet soups, sardines, frankfurts, pickled olives and even soluble aspirin are high in salt. So it’s not only the salt which is added to meals when they are served which causes a problem.

Salt is prevalent in processed and fast foods. This goes against the National Dietary Guidelines which urge that salt intake be reduced. Excess salt intake can cause a variety of health problems. Already 20% of teh population are susceptible to hypertension. This involves an increase in blood pressure while the kidneys work hard to excrete extra salt and of course hypertension increases the risk of heart disease, stroke and kidney failure.

Ian Macdonald as founder and owner of Macdonald’s Gourmet Burgers combines his passion and knowledge of food, wine and nutrition with savvy business tactics. He is also the MD of a corporate consulting firm that advises on strategic negotiation, dispute resolution and workplace change. Clients are mainly from top 100 corporations. For lots of free resources from their extensive website go to: http://www.MacdonaldsGourmetBurgers.com

This article was compiled with the guidance of Darrell Berg-Smith, CEO, DBS Worldwide Marketing Co., Ltd. For lots of great free low cost marketing resources go to: http://www.darrellberg-smith.com

Compare this to the 2% number of fast food consumption in children in 1980. And for your information, relying on fast food alone won’t meet your body daily requirement of nutrition. The numbers of fast food restaurants have doubled in 20 years and it’s predicted to growth at more alarming rate in the coming years. The reason of this alarming growth rate is due to the bad infestation of fast food restaurants, not only in America, but also in the world.

The fast food giants now also specifically target children in their advertisement campaign too. And now we can see fast food restaurants opening up their branches at public school too. This fast food infestation is believed to be responsible in triggering the obesity and diabetes epidemic in societies. And since a lot of people rely on fast food for their daily nutrition intake its worth knowing the nutritions information that are contained in the fast food.

So let’s get to know well the fast food nutrition information that is currently becoming a part of our daily life. First of all most of the fast food use partially hydrogenated vegetable oil which contribute trans fat to our body. Trans fats are hand-made fats which are made through the injection of hydrogen on unsaturated fat, making it a trans fat. So naturally all fast food products which are made through frying contain a lot of Trans fat.

Research done by feeding monkeys on fast food which contain Trans fat resulted in an increase of the size of bellies of the monkeys. And monkeys fed on unsaturated fat foods which contain the same calories did not show the same increase of size. And the most alarming occurrences are that monkeys fed on fast food show an early sign of diabetes. These Trans fats that are found in fast food have higher probability of causing heart disease than other fats.

Let’s take a look at some of the popular fast food products.

McDonald’s Big Mac and fries

Fat: 12g (per 100g)

Salt:; 0.9g

Sugar: 3.7g

Protein: 9.3

Fibre: 3.2g

KFC two chicken pieces and fries

Fat: 12g

Salt: 0.7g

Sugar: n/a

Protein: 12.2g

Fibre: n/a

Considering the amount of fat available there, obviously the best choices for food in fast foods restaurant are the salad and the grilled meat. Be careful with the dressing; make sure you order it in separate cups so that you can control the amount of additional fat that you are going to eat.

Mc Donald Chicken Caesar Salad

Fat: 6 g (per 100g)

Salt: 0.39 g

Protein: 7g

Sugar: 1g

Fibre: 3g

Subway Veggie Delight sandwich

Fat: 3g

Salt: 0.5 g

Protein: 7g

Sugar: 3.5g

Fibre: 3g

Subway Chicken Savory Sandwich

Fat: 3g

Salt: 0.6 g

Protein: 8g

Sugar: 6g

Fibre: 4g

With such a bad infestation of fast food, now you know what to order when your friends or your colleagues or even your families insist on taking you to the nearest fast food chain. New York City have 23 McDonald’s in Manhattan alone and everywhere in hospitals, airports, train stations and eve high schools, so with this fast food nutrition information you are armed with knowledge to order the least poisonous foods for you.

Linda Mie A former obese girl now sharing her recommendations and reviews of various diet methods available out there. Find out her personal twist and tricks on popular diet methods based on her own experiences for quick and healthy weight loss diet. See also her new guide: the fast food 101.