Fat Loss 4 Idiots Opinion

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Facts on High Blood Pressure Sodium Intake

By Michael Byrd

Excessive sodium intake can bring about high blood pressure so put that salt shaker down at once! We always get this advice from health professionals. This advice is good but only if you follow it.

Sodium is an essential mineral so you can't live without it. However, too much sodium intake can do more harm than good. We only need a little amount of salt to survive. However, most Americans get much more than they should. Let us see if we can solve this high blood pressure sodium intake problem.

One of the important reasons why your body uses sodium is it help in normalizing the water balance in your body. However, you need to be conscious of your sodium intake since too much of it can cause water retention in your body which can then lead to edema and an increase in blood volume. The increase in blood volume can stress the circulatory system which eventually leads to high blood pressure. Sure enough there are other reasons for high blood pressure but combined with other factors or even all by itself it is still a cause.

So how much sodium does our body really need? Our body only needs around 500 to 1,000 milligrams of sodium daily to function properly. However, for most adults, as much as 1,100 to 3,300 milligrams daily is assumed to be safe and The American Heart Association also recommends that we get no more than 2,300 milligrams or approximately one teaspoon of salt a day.

So how much salt are we getting right now? It is said that a regular American consumes between 6,000 up to 15,000 milligrams of sodium in a day and it can even get as much as 28,000 milligrams. This is exactly the reason why we need to take closer look at our sodium intake.

How come we are getting too much sodium in our diets? This is because sodium is found in almost every food that you eat especially in packaged, restaurant, and processed foods. Since we need to be watchful of our diet then it is important that we know how to read food labels so we can keep track of our total sodium intake.

When eating breakfast, lunch, dinners as well as all the snacks in between try to have some fresh fruits and vegetables, meats, whole grains and everything else that has no salt added. That way you are able to reduce your sodium intake gradually. If you wish to reduce your salt and high blood pressure sodium intake then it is best that you begin with baby steps.

If you want to reduce your salt and high blood pressure sodium intake then you can to begin with baby steps. You can stop using prepared foods and use homemade instead. Moreover, start buying fresh products instead of canned goods. Drink lots of water instead of soda and if you really cannot avoid eating packaged foods then make sure you buy only those with low sodium labels.

Just follow these suggestions together with the other means of lowering blood pressure such as exercising regularly, having more omega 3 fish oil in your diet, and reducing stress and you'll surely see your blood pressure drop down naturally. - 17269

About the Author:

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home