01/31/2018 REDUCE YOUR SALT INTAKE
Deuteronomy 29: 22-23: Then your children and the generations to come and the foreigners that pass by from distant lands shall see the devastation of the land and the diseases the LORD will have sent upon it. They will see that the whole land is alkali and salt, a burned over wasteland, unsown, without crops, without a shred of vegetation---just like Sodom and Gomorrah and Admah and Zeboiim, destroyed by the LORD in HIS anger. [Living Bible translation]
BIBLICAL COMMENTS
The Jewish bible, the Torah, is also called the Pentateuch, which refers to the “Five Books of Moses.” [“Penta” in Latin and Greek means five.] These books include: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy—the first five books of the Christian bible. Deuteronomy, the fifth book, consists of three sermons or speeches where Moses recounts the law given to him by GOD. The book of Deuteronomy also constitutes the rededication of the people to GOD through the renewal of the covenant between GOD and the people of Israel. It is the repeating of the law and the repeating of the people’s vows to GOD.
“Deuteronomy” means “second law,” because the book is Moses’ proclamation of GOD’s divine law to the people a second time. Moses knew that some things were so important they need to be repeated.
Not only are some things worth repeating, some things are also worth remembering. Sometimes it is easy to forget that a giving, gracious, forgiving, loving, caring GOD also gets angry. And that often GOD’s anger has consequences. The children of Israel, like most forgetful children, failed to listen and remember. They repeatedly disobeyed GOD, despite the “hard evidence” right in front of their faces---the barren wastelands of Sodom and Gomorrah.
SALT
Since 1980, the Dietary Guidelines For Americans has been published every five years by the U. S. Department of Agriculture and The Department of Health and Human Services. The guidelines provide authoritative advice and information regarding how to achieve good dietary food habits to promote good health and prevent chronic diseases. The guidelines are meant for all Americans, age two and older. There Dietary Guidelines always include some warning about salt.
The CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has explicitly said that most American should consume less salt. According to the CDC, our bodies only need a small amount of sodium (which most of us consume in the form of salt) to properly function. Eat too much sodium and you increase your blood pressure, your risk for heart disease and your risk for stroke. Heart disease and stroke are the leading causes of death for most people.
According to the CDC, 9 out of 10 children eat more salt that recommended. About 1 out of 9 children have elevated blood pressure. Most of the sodium is coming from processed foods (e.g. store bought packaged foods, can goods, lunch meats or restaurant and fast foods, outlets foods).