Reply to Do you consider chips & salsa a junk food?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Okay I have to say more about salsa. Nobody would put tomatoes, onions, cilantro, peppers, salt, and lime juice in a bowl and call it junk food. Why would throwing that in the food processor put it into the junk food category? [/quote]

Lets be honest. The vast majority of people aren't making their own salsa. They're buying it from the store.  Just take whole foods salsa as a standard example:

https://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/product/organic-thickand%20chunky%20mild%20salsa,%2016%20oz-b07nsq98r9

Only 2 tablespoons alone has 6% DV for sodium!  Most people will probably consume 2 tables spoons of salsa in 2-3 bites. In a session, everyone knows they'll probably have 10-20 bites.   Salsa is often a highly processed salt bomb. Many also contain preservatives.

Sure, this is DCUM where absolutely zero people buy pre-made salsa though and only make it at home.  Yeah, suuuuure.

This is why Americans are so fat and why cardiovascular disease is the #1 killer in America. Americans have an extremely hard time figuring out what is junk food.  Oh, salsa must be healthy because all it is is tomatoes, onions, lime, and maybe olive oil and cilantro.  Except they completely ignore the huge amounts of sodium that goes into many brands' salsas. [/quote]

I mean, the fact that so many people think that salsa is junk food does make me agree that Americans have a hard time figuring out what is and isn’t junk food. First of all, it isn’t highly processed. It’s chopped up and canned. Second of all, yes it has a good amount of sodium but that’s merely something to be conscious of, not avoided entirely, assuming you’re generally healthy. Foods with a similar amount of sodium include milk, sauerkraut, and cheese. Tuna has 23% of your DV for sodium, and a slice of bread has 10. Spaghetti sauce and pre-made salad dressings have a ton too. And one restaurant meal, well, goodness knows. And let’s not forget that you actually need sodium to survive and most people obviously don’t have that problem, cutting it out entirely isn’t the goal. Plus it you don’t have salsa, you miss out on all those vegetables!

The worst foods are fried sweet goods, potato chips, French fries, and processed meats. If you avoid those, eat vegetables and healthy fats (hello guacamole!), smoke or drink, and exercise and you are doing great. [/quote]

I mean, you are kind of half right and you’re getting to the core of the issue.  Look how much food is total garbage.  [b]Yes, pasta sauces, dressings, salsas, sauerkraut, cheese……all salt and fat bombs. [/b] People completely ignore how much sodium they’re consuming per day, and it is why this country has so many problems with hypertension and cardiovascular disease.  Breads are one of the worst offenders out there.  Yes, n9wmyiure getting it. Many people will consume something like two slices of bread, which is a sodium bomb.  Take for example someone making a ham egg and cheese sandwich with some WF pico de gallo as a topping.   That little meal right there alone probably has almost 30-50% of your entire daily allowance for sodium.  We haven’t even gotten to snacks, lunch, dinner and drinks yet for more sodium and sugar.

A can of tuna might have 23% dv for sodium, but look at the portion size.  Compare that to two table spoons of WF pico, which has almost no calories and 5% dv of sodium.  The issue is portion size two.  It is much better to spend 23% dv sodium on an entire can of tuna that is going to be far more filling than 2 tbl of pico with 115 mg of sodium.  A typical person is going to easily consume 4-6 tbl of pico like nothing.

Everything about food in the U.S. sucks.  It is loaded with salt, fat, sugar, and empty cals. Even when people think they’re eating healthy they’re unwittingly consuming huge amount of sodium, because food makers have to cover up bland taste somehow. [/quote]

You are now not in any way talking about an answer to OP's question.

I'll agree with you that as a general rule the average American diet is bad.  But that isn't the question.  The specific is whether a generic "Chips and salsa" is junk food.  There are only two answers to this, either:
1. no, or
2. really depends on the quality and quantity of chips and salsa you are eating (which would be true of any food this question is asked about)[/quote]

It’s junk food because it has far too much sodium per serving.  Most people will consume many multiples of a serving.  It’s a sodium bomb. [/quote]

So you are assuming that you know: 1) which salsa is being eaten; and 2) how much of it is being eaten.

Try not assuming that and try answering again.[/quote]

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