Question regarding high blood pressure and a high sodium diet?
I am a 21 yr old male. My question concerns a low sodium diet. I am 6′5" 190lb, i eat 3-4 large portion meals a day and i don’t gain any weight. As a college student my Diet contains a huge amount of sodium (avg of 3500mg/day). My father has primary hypertension and my family has a record of hypertension.
Whenever i visit the doctor they tell me that my blood pressure is fairly high and consider me to have pre-hypertension. My Doctor does not consider it high enough for me to take medication. He advised me to cut back on my sodium (which i have been trying to, bringing my average down from 6000+ mg/day). But, i still feel that my blood pressure fluctuates and is lower when i visit the doctor then on a regular day. I try to eat healthy and cut back on fast-food, but i still cant seem to get away from food that contains a extremely large amount of sodium(ie frozen, processed, canned foods, etc.)
1st question, Is there a way for me to get tested to see if i have a sensitivity to sodium? (Which may be causing my pre-hypertension.)
2nd question, Can anyone suggest any low sodium food that is fairly easy to make for 1 person and/or low sodium cookbooks? (remember the poor college kid aspect of my question)
(i found this cookbook "The No-Salt, Lowest-Sodium Cookbook" on amazon and looks like a good one, has anyone purchased this book and would you suggest it?)
Hi Kyle, First of all there is nothing like sodium allergy. It is simple chemistry: salt attracts water; excess salt in the body retains extra fluids and adds to the circulatory burden.
As regards the low sodium food, it is better if you follow certain ground rules rather than collecting recipes. The rules are:
# Stock up in the produce aisle. You can enjoy almost any raw fruit or vegetable with no worries about overdoing sodium. Nuts sold in this section are a safe bet too, as long as they are raw–not roasted or smoked–with no salt added.
# Do more research in the dairy section rather than just putting whatever you like in the cart. You’ll have to stick to low sodium cheeses. Milk, eggs and yogurt are fine, but when it comes to butter like spreads, you have two choices: unsalted or heart healthy options.
# Be very careful when wading through the processed food sections. Low sodium foods are defined as 35 mg of sodium or less, with a goal of no more than 1000 mg of sodium a day. You can consume a full day’s worth of sodium with one can of soup. Stick with items labeled "low sodium" and even then, check the nutritional information to see how many servings are in one package.
# Tread carefully as you round the deli case. If it says "smoked," look the other way. Bologna is not a good choice. Fresh meats, poultry and fish that haven’t been breaded or seasoned are safe for a low sodium diet.
# Treat yourself to gelatin desserts, low fat ice cream, fruit with whipped dairy toppings and marshmallows. For everything else, read the label.
# Season your food with pepper, garlic without added salt, vinegar, jelly, low sodium ketchup, honey–or, if you’re really craving salt, a salt substitute like NuSalt or NoSalt is a safe bet.
Good Luck.
February 17th, 2010 at 1:59 pm
I don’t know about a sensitivity to sodium, but it wouldn’t surprise me.
Foods - trying to be healthy and cost conscious is never easy
That being said, here are a few tips…
Fresh produce is best, although most expensive. For fruits and vegetables pick frozen over canned as frozen is the most pure state you can find outside of fresh. Make sure it is frozen without sauce, and the most inexpensive will be plain frozen not the steam-in-a-bag packages. If you must get canned, look for the reduced or no-sodium varieties and hope they are on sale (sorry, just being honest!)
In my house, we cook up a big pot of pasta, (preferably whole wheat, but if you’re not used to the taste mix 1/2 and 1/2), throw in some vegetables (diced tomatoes, broccoli, peas, mixed veggies, whatever you like) and some cooked chicken breast. Then it gets divided into single-serve plastic containers that we label and throw in the freezer. The same can be done with brown rice and stir fry (minus the excessive soy sauce). It is inexpensive, and if you cook enough ingredients at one time you can get 5-6 frozen meals out of 60-90 minutes in the kitchen for less than what you’d spend on frozen entrees. If you hit up Aldi’s you can find all of these ingredients super cheap, and even some great cheap fresh produce!
Even for breakfasts we do something similar with the single-serve plastic containers: 6-8 ounces yogurt, grape nuts and frozen fruit. When you take it out to thaw for the next morning, it turns into a mushy mess but it’s yummy and the fiber is great for the heart. Plus buying yogurt in bulk, plus frozen fruit, is pretty inexpensive.
Cookbooks sometimes are a good resource, but often just expand on a fair level of cooking expertise. Check your library first (you are a college student, so prob have access to a library correct?) and google the DASH diet.
Also, has the doc talked to you about exercise? It can reduce you bp by up to 10 "points" per number (each - top and bottom). If you aren’t getting 30 minutes each day at least 4-5 days per week, amp it up a bit. Check the American Heart Association’s site http://www.americanheart.org for other ideas.
Good luck. Sounds like you’re doing a great job so far, so just keep it up!
References :
February 17th, 2010 at 2:07 pm
Hi Kyle, First of all there is nothing like sodium allergy. It is simple chemistry: salt attracts water; excess salt in the body retains extra fluids and adds to the circulatory burden.
As regards the low sodium food, it is better if you follow certain ground rules rather than collecting recipes. The rules are:
# Stock up in the produce aisle. You can enjoy almost any raw fruit or vegetable with no worries about overdoing sodium. Nuts sold in this section are a safe bet too, as long as they are raw–not roasted or smoked–with no salt added.
# Do more research in the dairy section rather than just putting whatever you like in the cart. You’ll have to stick to low sodium cheeses. Milk, eggs and yogurt are fine, but when it comes to butter like spreads, you have two choices: unsalted or heart healthy options.
# Be very careful when wading through the processed food sections. Low sodium foods are defined as 35 mg of sodium or less, with a goal of no more than 1000 mg of sodium a day. You can consume a full day’s worth of sodium with one can of soup. Stick with items labeled "low sodium" and even then, check the nutritional information to see how many servings are in one package.
# Tread carefully as you round the deli case. If it says "smoked," look the other way. Bologna is not a good choice. Fresh meats, poultry and fish that haven’t been breaded or seasoned are safe for a low sodium diet.
# Treat yourself to gelatin desserts, low fat ice cream, fruit with whipped dairy toppings and marshmallows. For everything else, read the label.
# Season your food with pepper, garlic without added salt, vinegar, jelly, low sodium ketchup, honey–or, if you’re really craving salt, a salt substitute like NuSalt or NoSalt is a safe bet.
Good Luck.
References :
An Internist
February 17th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
6000 mg exceeds the recommended 3000 mg.
I would suggest the "DASH Diet for Hypertension" book by Thomas Moore.
References :
DASH book online
Lowering Your Blood Pressure With DASH diet. What you choose to eat affects your chances of developing high blood pressure, or hypertension (the medical term). Recent studies show that blood pressure can be lowered by following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) eating plan—and by eating less salt, also called sodium.
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/hbp/dash/new_dash.pdf
February 17th, 2010 at 3:20 pm
1. Yes lower your salt intake by doing the DASH diet go to nih,gov or oder the book by T Moore.
2. Get the DASH book by T Moore and follow the 14 day trial.
References :
40 years of specializing in high blood pressure.