Sodium and health: New proposal of distribution for major meals

Abstract

Sodium ingestion in regular diet exceeds individuals’ physiological needs, and it is etiologically related to various diseases. Studies estimate that the worldwide average individual intake of sodium reaches almost double the maximum limit of ingestion for the day only in the main meals: lunch and dinner. Culturally, sodium is hi ghly used in meals to enhance the flavor of pr eparations. Then, the purposes of this research are to evaluate sodium use in meals prepared in Popular Brazilian Restaurants and to suggest the distribution of sodium for each kind of preparation of major meals. This is an exploratory cross-sectional research based on direct documentation subdivided in six steps: determination of samples of foodservices and menus; development of the technical preparation files offered in the menus; determination of the weight of average portions offered; determination of the average amount of sodium in the portions offered; estimation of sodium distribution regarding two parameters; and determination of the sodium distribution among preparations of major meals by the two proposed parameters. For results’ analysis, portions were calculated as well as the mean contribution of the preparation in the plate weight in percentage and the mean sodium contribution. Standard deviation is also presented. We verified through the study the possibility of using the distribution of sodium by two parameters: the first one considers the ratio of components’ weight in the menu in relation to the total weight of the meal; the second one considers the distribution of sodium in preparations in relation to the total amount of sodium in the meal. We expect the results of this research to improve menu planning in restaurants as to fulfill the actual clients’ needs in order to prevent diseases.