October 5, 2008

Numbers Game: Answer

A three ounce broiled porkchop provides 46 milligrams of sodium, whereas three ounces of ham add up to 1,117 milligrams of sodium.

(Note: Maximum sodium intake recommendations are set at no more than 2,400 milligrams a day.)

This is one of the clearest examples of the vast nutritional differences between minimally and heavily processed varieties of the same food.

Remember, the more processed a food, the higher its sodium content and the lower its potassium numbers.

It shouldn't surprise you, then, to find out that the 341 milligrams of potassium in a three ounce porkchop fall to a measly 75 milligrams in three ounces of ham.

Additionally, while this amount of broiled pork offers 45 percent of the selenium daily value and 19 percent of day's worth of zinc, the ham only provides eight percent and three percent, respectively.

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