Get The Facts About The Link Between Eating Salt And High Blood Pressure
Salt is an essential part of our diet and has been used for thousands of years as a preservative and to add taste to our food. Indeed, although a lot of people in the West simply take it for granted, in many countries it is a very important economic commodity and many older readers will undoubtedly remember the important role played by salt in ending British rule in India in the middle of the last century.
Unhappily salt can also be a major contributory factor when it comes to the problem of high blood pressure.
Salt is a compound of sodium and chloride and when it comes to high blood pressure it is the amount of sodium which we consume that we have to watch.
At first sight it might seem that controlling your intake of salt is just a question of limiting the quantity of salt which you add to food when cooking and which you add to your food at the table. However, the true problem lies in the fact that the majority of the salt which we eat is found in the processed foods which most of us buy each day.
In order to ensure that you minimize the risk of hypertension you must keep your salt intake below the recommended daily sodium intake figure of 2,400 milligrams and here are some tips to assist you to do just that:
Take the salt off your table. If you are eating a properly balanced diet your food will already contain sufficient salt and you do not need to add more while you are eating, so simply remove the salt from your table.
Learn to read food labels. The laws governing food labeling are much improved these days and almost all foods now carry nutritional information that includes the amount of sodium that the food contains. You must read the labels carefully though as frequently the sodium figure given will apply to the whole pack or tin and sometimes it applies to just a single serving.
Purchase sodium free or low sodium products. Many foods today come in low sodium and sodium free options and, wherever possible, you need to choose these instead of the regular product.
Pick low salt snacks. Most people like to snack but try to choose things like vegetable and fruit and, if you cannot live without those crisps then choose varieties which are salt free or low in sodium.
Of course watching your salt intake is merely one part of creating a diet which is good for your blood pressure and you should also look at selecting items from the wide range of foods that lower high blood pressure.
