Why Low Sodium?
High sodium in our foods is a big culprit to high blood pressure. Typically, this comes from processed foods that have added salt, not ‘whole foods’ such as unprocessed grains, vegetables, fruit, etc.
When you eat too much salt, which contains sodium, your body holds extra water to “wash” the salt from your body. In some people, this may cause blood pressure to rise. The added water puts stress on your heart and blood vessels.
In the typical American diet processed foods can add as much as 75 percent of daily sodium. Historically, sodium has been added to foods to help prevent spoiling by inhibiting the growth of bacteria, yeast and mold. Salt also brings out the flavors in food. It can help disguise metallic or chemical aftertastes in products such as soft drinks. Salt reduces the perception of dryness in foods such as crackers and pretzels.
The 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend limiting sodium to less than 2,300 mg a day — or 1,500 mg if you’re age 51 or older, or if you’re black or if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or chronic kidney disease.
At GalloLea we started out with our first Pizza Kit as a whole wheat pizza. We loved pizza, but wanted to make one that was healthier than a white flour crust pizza. When you start a business you pay attention to feedback and it wasn’t long before we heard people ask if we made gluten free, and then low sodium. Making a gluten free pizza was a real challenge but low sodium was a very simple step, since we didn’t add any salt to our sauce in the first place.
So, to put it simply: all our Pizza Kit’s are a healthy option for pizza lovers. And with many folks on a strict low sodium diet, we just wanted pizza to be an option again. We’ve taken it a couple of steps further too. We offer topping suggestions, other than cheese, to satisfy the pizza craving and stay within the sodium budget. And, even more exciting to us, Tom is working on a new tomato sauce: it’s the same Gallo recipe, but he’s trying out other tomatoes to bring the sodium down even more.
Stay tuned, we’ll keep you posted!
