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

Do not allow yourself to be caught out as a result of a failure to recognize the link between salt and hypertension.

Salt is an extremely important element in our diet and has been in use for many 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 salt for granted, in a large number of countries it is a major economic commodity and many people will no doubt remember the important part 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 we are considering high blood pressure it is the amount of sodium which we consume that must be watched.

At first sight it may seem that controlling your intake of salt is just a matter of limiting the amount of salt which you put into your food when cooking and which you put on your food at the table. But, the real problem rests in the fact that the majority of the salt 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 high blood pressure you need to keep your intake of salt below the government's recommended daily consumption figure of 2,400 milligrams and here are 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 correctly balanced diet your food will have sufficient salt without any requirement to add more while eating, so remove the salt shaker from your table.



• Learn to read food labels when shopping. Food labeling laws are much improved these days and the majority of foods now carry nutritional information including the amount of sodium which the food contains. You will need to read the label carefully though as sometime the sodium figure given will apply to the whole pack or tin and sometimes it will apply to a single serving.



• Select sodium free or low sodium products. Many foods today come in low sodium or sodium free options and, where possible, you should purchase these in preference to the regular product.



• Purchase low salt snacks. The majority of us like to snack but you should try to eat things such as vegetables and fruit and, if you find that you cannot live without your crisps, buy varieties which are salt free or low in sodium.}

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