The Facts About The connection Between Salt And High Blood Pressure
October 16th, 2008 | by Clare |
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Used for many thousands of years to add taste to food and as a preservative, salt is a very valuable part of our diet. Furthermore, although many people in the West simply take it for granted, in many countries it is a very important economic commodity and many older readers will no doubt remember the part played by salt in bringing British rule in India to and end in the middle of the last century.
Regrettably salt is also a significant contributory factor to the problem of high blood pressure.
Salt is a compound of sodium and chloride and as far as hypertension is concerned it is the amount of sodium which we consume that we have to watch.
It might seem that controlling your intake of salt is just a question of restricting the amount of salt which you put into food when cooking or at the table. However, the real problem lies in the fact that most of the salt which we consume is contained in the processed foods which nearly all of us buy each day.
To make sure that you minimize the risk of hypertension you need to keep your intake of salt below the recommended daily sodium intake figure of 2,400 milligrams and so here are a few tips to help you do just that:
Remove salt from your table. If you diet is correctly balanced your food will contain enough salt and you do not need to add more while you are eating, so simply remove the salt from the table.
Learn to read food labels. Food labeling laws have been greatly improved in recent years and most foods carry nutritional information which includes the quantity of sodium that the food contains. You need to read the labels carefully though as frequently the sodium figure will apply to the whole tin or pack and sometimes it applies to just an individual serving.
Purchase low sodium or sodium free foods. Many foods these days come in sodium free or low sodium options and, wherever possible, you should choose these rather than the regular product.
Choose low salt snacks. The majority of us enjoy snacking but try to select such things as fruit and vegetables and, if you feel that you cannot live without your crisps then choose varieties that are salt free or low in sodium.
Of course watching your salt consumption is merely one element of creating a diet that is good for your blood pressure and you also need to look at choosing items from the wide range of foods that lower high blood pressure.