Too much sodium intake can cause high blood pressure so put down that salt shaker at once! Health professionals often give us this piece of advice. This is good advice but only if you follow it.
Sodium is an important mineral therefore you can't live without it. Funny though that too much of it can do more harm than good. Our body only needs a small amount of salt to survive and yet most Americans have much more than they should. Hence, we should look for ways on how we can solve the high blood pressure sodium intake problem.
Sodium helps to normalize the water balance in your body. This is exactly why your body needs sodium. However, excessive sodium intake can cause water retention in your body which eventually leads to an increase in blood volume and edema. The increase in blood volume can put stress on the circulatory system which then can lead to high blood pressure. Certainly there are other reasons for high blood pressure but apart or combined with other factors it is still a cause.
So how much sodium does our body actually need? The American Heart Association suggests that we should get no more than 2,300 milligrams or one teaspoon of salt a day. But for most adults, as much as 1,100 up to 3,300 milligrams daily is assumed to be safe even if we only need around 500 up to 1,000 milligrams of salt daily in order to function efficiently.
Then why is sodium intake such a problem? How much are we really getting now? The average American can consume as much as 6,000 to 15,000 milligrams of sodium a day and some even get as much as 28,000 milligrams.
So why is it that we are getting more than enough sodium in our diets? The reason behind this is because unlike food in its natural state, the food that we usually eat contains sodium. Sodium is usually added to packaged food, processed food and foods coming from restaurants. We need to learn how to read food labels as the numbers can add up real quick. This will then enable us to 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.
Stop using prepared foods and start making them yourself. What's more you can buy fresh products instead of canned goods. Drink loads of water instead of soda and if you just cannot avoid eating packaged foods then see to it that you buy only those with low sodium labels.
If you follow these suggestions together with the other ways to lower blood pressure such as exercising regularly, having more omega 3 fish oil in your diet, and eliminating stress then your blood pressure will drop down naturally.
Sodium is an important mineral therefore you can't live without it. Funny though that too much of it can do more harm than good. Our body only needs a small amount of salt to survive and yet most Americans have much more than they should. Hence, we should look for ways on how we can solve the high blood pressure sodium intake problem.
Sodium helps to normalize the water balance in your body. This is exactly why your body needs sodium. However, excessive sodium intake can cause water retention in your body which eventually leads to an increase in blood volume and edema. The increase in blood volume can put stress on the circulatory system which then can lead to high blood pressure. Certainly there are other reasons for high blood pressure but apart or combined with other factors it is still a cause.
So how much sodium does our body actually need? The American Heart Association suggests that we should get no more than 2,300 milligrams or one teaspoon of salt a day. But for most adults, as much as 1,100 up to 3,300 milligrams daily is assumed to be safe even if we only need around 500 up to 1,000 milligrams of salt daily in order to function efficiently.
Then why is sodium intake such a problem? How much are we really getting now? The average American can consume as much as 6,000 to 15,000 milligrams of sodium a day and some even get as much as 28,000 milligrams.
So why is it that we are getting more than enough sodium in our diets? The reason behind this is because unlike food in its natural state, the food that we usually eat contains sodium. Sodium is usually added to packaged food, processed food and foods coming from restaurants. We need to learn how to read food labels as the numbers can add up real quick. This will then enable us to 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.
Stop using prepared foods and start making them yourself. What's more you can buy fresh products instead of canned goods. Drink loads of water instead of soda and if you just cannot avoid eating packaged foods then see to it that you buy only those with low sodium labels.
If you follow these suggestions together with the other ways to lower blood pressure such as exercising regularly, having more omega 3 fish oil in your diet, and eliminating stress then your blood pressure will drop down naturally.
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