The Five-20 Rule for Dietary Sodium Intake

This article may be helpful for your patients -- and yourself:

Sodium Intake Could Be Managed Using Five-20 Rule.

NBC Nightly News (3/4, story 8, 2:20, Williams) reported in its "Personal Best" series that sodium "has a way of sneaking into the American diet in some of the most unlikely places," in what NBC (Thompson) called "a blizzard of salt." NBC examined how sodium is present in unlikely foods -- such as toasted wheat cereal and tomato juice -- and pointed out "an easier way to keep an eye on your sodium intake. Just remember two numbers, five and twenty. Then look at the label for the daily value or DV percentage." Barbara Schneeman, FDA Nutritional Labeling Director, told NBC, "Five percent or less of the daily value is considered low. Twenty percent or more of the daily value is considered high."