My sodium intake is roughly 2,500 mg per day. Usually. Except today. Today, I took my family out to dinner at East Side Mario’s in Waterloo. I knew that the calorie count would be high. And it was. But the sodium intake? Off the scale.

I ordered the Chicken and Broccoli Bowtie. A mere 970 calories. Add in a caesar salad, and I took in almost 1,300 calories in one sitting. Hard to believe.

The Heart and Stroke Foundation suggests that people who have been diagnosed with hypertension limit their sodium intake to roughly 1,500 mg per day. Normal folk can consume around 2,300 mg per day.

At East Side Mario’s, my meal delivered 5,780 mg of sodium!

There should be a law that requires these restaurants to publish calorie counts and sodium levels on the menu. I won’t be eating at East Side Mario’s again.