Healthy Eating World

Salt is a very valuable part of our diet and has been in use for thousands of years as a preservative and to give added taste to our food. Indeed, despite the fact that many people in the West take it for granted, in a large number of countries it is a vital trading commodity and many people will probably remember the important role played by salt in ending British rule in India in the middle of the last century.

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

Salt is a compound of chloride and sodium and when we are looking at hypertension it is the link between sodium and high blood pressure that is of concern and the amount of sodium we consume has to be watched.

At first sight it may 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. However, the real problem lies in the fact that most of the sodium in our diet is contained in the processed foods which nearly all of us buy and consume every day.

So as to ensure that you minimize your risk of developing hypertension you must keep your intake of sodium under the government’s recommended daily consumption figure of 2,400 milligrams and here are a number of tips to assist you in putting together a high blood pressure diet:

1. Remove salt from your table. If you are getting a properly balanced diet your food will contain enough salt without any need to add more while eating, so remove the salt from your table.

2. Learn to read food labels. Food labeling laws have been improved most foods now carry nutritional information which includes the amount of sodium which the food contains. You need to read the label very carefully as sometime the sodium figure shown will apply to the whole of the pack or tin and sometimes it will apply to a single serving. Food labels can help considerably in picking foods that lower blood pressure.

3. Purchase low sodium or sodium free products. Many foods nowadays come in low sodium or sodium free options and, wherever possible, you should buy these over the regular product.

4. Choose low salt snacks. Most of us like to snack but you should try to stick to things such as vegetables and fruit and, if you find that you cannot live without crisps, select varieties that are low in sodium or salt free.

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