Find Out The Facts About The Connection Between Sodium And High Blood Pressure

By Author: Donald Saunders
Total Articles: 84
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Do not be caught out because of a failure to understand the link between sodium and high blood pressure.

Salt is a very important part of our diet and has been in use for thousands of years as both a preservative and to give added taste to our food. Indeed, in spite of the fact that many people in the West take salt for granted, in many countries it is a major economic commodity and many people will possibly remember the important role played by salt in ending British rule in India in the middle of the twentieth century.

It is an unfortunate fact however salt can also be a major contributory factor when we look at the problem of high blood pressure.

Salt is a compound of chloride and sodium and when it comes to high blood pressure it is the amount of sodium we consume that needs to be monitored.

In the first instant it might seem that controlling your intake of salt is merely a question of monitoring the amount of salt that you put into your food when cooking and that you put on your food at the table. But, the true problem lies in the fact that most of the sodium in our diet is found in the processed ...
... foods which nearly all of us buy and consume each day.

So as to ensure that you minimize your risk of high blood pressure you need to keep your intake of sodium under the government's recommended daily consumption figure of 2,400 milligrams and here are just a few tips to help you do just that:

� Do not put salt on the|Remove salt from your} table. If you are getting a properly balanced diet your food will contain enough salt without any requirement to add more when eating, so remove the salt shaker from your table.

� Learn how to to read food labels. Food labeling laws and most foods now carry nutritional information including the amount of sodium which the food contains. You must read the label very carefully as sometime the sodium figure shown will apply to the whole of the pack or tin and occasionally it will only apply to a single serving.

� Select sodium free or low sodium products. A growing number of foods nowadays come in low sodium or sodium free options and, where possible, you should select these in preference to the regular product.

� Purchase low salt snacks. Most of us like to snack but you should try to stick to things such as fruit and vegetables and, if you find that you cannot live without your crisps, then choose varieties that are salt free or low in sodium.}