Salt - Shaking The Habit
According to the new Dietary Guidelines, most people should eat less than 1 teaspoon of sodium (about 2,300 mg) a day. Anyone who has been diagnosed with hypertension, African Americans, and people 50 and over should reduce their sodium intake to no more than 2/3 of a teaspoon (about 1,500 mg) a day. Potassium-rich produce and grains, and calcium-rich dairy products help bring the blood pressure down. "Both minerals help blunt the effects of sodium on blood pressure," says Cindy Moore, M.S., R. D., director of nutrition therapy at The Cleveland Clinic. But most people must get the minerals from food and not supplements. "We aren’t certain whether it’s the potassium and calcium that affects blood pressure, or other ingredients in these foods," she adds. Medication does not allow you to consume a high sodium intake. Blood pressure medicine is an adjunct to blood pressure control. If you still do all the wrong things, you defeat the purpose of the medicine.
Salt is an acquired taste that can be unlearned within a few weeks. It’s a matter of replacing convenience foods with fresh produce, grains, low-fat dairy products, and lean meat poultry and fish, and instead flavoring foods with herbs and spices.
If food tastes bland, a salt substitute may help. However, because many salt substitutes contain potassium chloride, use them under a doctor’s supervision. When taken in tandem with ACE inhibitor, angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), or certain diuretics—all prescribed to lower blood pressure—salt substitutes can raise potassium to harmful levels in people with diabetes or kidney disease, says Dr. Campbell. (It’s rare that the potassium in food would pose a risk since most people don’t eat enough.)
Research has found that people who limited sodium reduced their need for medication by 31 percent; those who cut back on salt and lost weight slashed it by 53 percent.
One caveat: If your blood pressure is in a low normal range, you don’t need to avoid salt—as lowering blood pressure further may cause you to feel faint and light headed.
Watch for sodium content in canned foods. Some vegetables contain as much as 960 mg of sodium. Draining the fluids before using may help reduce that amount.
A typical can of Pork & Beans contains 490 mg of sodium representing 20% of the RDA. Yet the Pork & Beans are low in fat 2% and 120 calories with only 10 of those calories derived from fat. That is based on a ½ cup serving. You would think that Pork and Beans would be high in saturated fat, but the nutrition facts list 0g and 0% and the total fat 1g is 2% of the RDA. Lower your sodium intake by asking that the foods prepared at restaurants be broiled, baked or steamed, and flavored with herbs or lemon.
Remember that many Chinese dishes contain monosodium glutamate (MSG). Like most Americans, you probably down about three to five teaspoonfuls of salt a day. Only about 10 percent of dietary sodium comes from table salt. The rest lurks in packaged, convenience, restaurant, and fast foods.
All that salt takes a toll. Sodium is a leading contributor to hypertension, which affects one in three Americans. Hypertension can result in heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, kidney disease, and blindness. Millions of men have blood pressure between normal (less than 120/80 mmHg) and high (140/90 mmHg). Unless they lower it, many of these men may develop high blood pressure.
Being African-American, overweight or sedentary, drinking too much alcohol, having diabetes or a family history of hypertension, or being 50 or older are also risks for hypertension. "Salt makes your body hold onto more fluid," explains John Campbell, M.D., a specialist in preventive medicine and a consultant in preventive cardiology at The Cleveland Clinic.
Salt is an acquired taste that can be unlearned within a few weeks. It’s a matter of replacing convenience foods with fresh produce, grains, low-fat dairy products, and lean meat poultry and fish, and instead flavoring foods with herbs and spices.
If food tastes bland, a salt substitute may help. However, because many salt substitutes contain potassium chloride, use them under a doctor’s supervision. When taken in tandem with ACE inhibitor, angiotensin II receptor blocker (ARB), or certain diuretics—all prescribed to lower blood pressure—salt substitutes can raise potassium to harmful levels in people with diabetes or kidney disease, says Dr. Campbell. (It’s rare that the potassium in food would pose a risk since most people don’t eat enough.)
Research has found that people who limited sodium reduced their need for medication by 31 percent; those who cut back on salt and lost weight slashed it by 53 percent.
One caveat: If your blood pressure is in a low normal range, you don’t need to avoid salt—as lowering blood pressure further may cause you to feel faint and light headed.
Watch for sodium content in canned foods. Some vegetables contain as much as 960 mg of sodium. Draining the fluids before using may help reduce that amount.
A typical can of Pork & Beans contains 490 mg of sodium representing 20% of the RDA. Yet the Pork & Beans are low in fat 2% and 120 calories with only 10 of those calories derived from fat. That is based on a ½ cup serving. You would think that Pork and Beans would be high in saturated fat, but the nutrition facts list 0g and 0% and the total fat 1g is 2% of the RDA. Lower your sodium intake by asking that the foods prepared at restaurants be broiled, baked or steamed, and flavored with herbs or lemon.
Remember that many Chinese dishes contain monosodium glutamate (MSG). Like most Americans, you probably down about three to five teaspoonfuls of salt a day. Only about 10 percent of dietary sodium comes from table salt. The rest lurks in packaged, convenience, restaurant, and fast foods.
All that salt takes a toll. Sodium is a leading contributor to hypertension, which affects one in three Americans. Hypertension can result in heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, kidney disease, and blindness. Millions of men have blood pressure between normal (less than 120/80 mmHg) and high (140/90 mmHg). Unless they lower it, many of these men may develop high blood pressure.
Being African-American, overweight or sedentary, drinking too much alcohol, having diabetes or a family history of hypertension, or being 50 or older are also risks for hypertension. "Salt makes your body hold onto more fluid," explains John Campbell, M.D., a specialist in preventive medicine and a consultant in preventive cardiology at The Cleveland Clinic.
posted by Stan Kent at
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