Salt does not cause high blood pressure

All over the world salt (or sodium chloride)has a very bad reputation of increasing your blood pressure . Many people in North America are so scared of this important ingredient that they are filling their grocery carts with “low-sodium” products, or even attempting to eliminate salt from their diet entirely. While it is true that for most of us should it be OK to cut back on the salt, it is not a 100% universal fact.

Salt doesn’t cause high blood pressure.

More accurately high blood pressure causes damage to blood vessels which in turn makes the blood vessels unable to tolerate salt. In this post the facts about sodium and its relationship to blood pressure are presented.

Sodium as a Nutrient

Nutrient is a substance that provides nourishment essential for growth and the maintenance of life.

Sodium is an essential mineral found in the human body.
It is necessary for the brain to be able to send signals to nerves and muscles throughout the body.
It is also necessary for the absorption of other nutrients.
In order for your body to function properly, you need to maintain a delicate balance of sodium and potassium.
Whatever sodium we lose throughout the day needs to be replaced . For most people, the recommended amount is 1000 mg( milligram) to 3000 mg of sodium per day which is 1 to 3 grams . If you are an endurance athlete or if your body excretes a large amount of sodium the need may be higher. Everyone is a little bit different in the way that they metabolize sodium. Metabolism is a process of converting food into energy. If someone has an excellent metabolism it means that he can utilize food to obtain energy in an excellent way.

High Blood Pressure Factors

Now what is blood pressure? Blood pressure is the pressure exerted by the blood in our body. In a simple layman’s understanding it is the measurement of the amount of energy your heart has to utilize in order to transport blood throughout your body. A healthy blood pressure is less than 120/80. The top number (systole) refers to the pressure (or energy) against the artery walls when the heart muscles contract and pump blood from the chambers into the arteries. The bottom number (diastole) is the pressure (or energy) which arteries expend when the heart muscles relax and blood flows into the heart chambers.

The biggest risk factor for high blood pressure is not sodium. The most important risk factors are family history and weight. If you have a family history of high blood pressure and heart disease, you will be more likely to have high blood pressure. I am saying MORE LIKELY!!!!!!. not necessarily. Additionally if you are overweight you will be more likely to develop high blood pressure.

Sodium and High Blood Pressure

If you have high blood pressure, sodium can cause you to retain too much water. By retaining more water in your blood vessels, you are making your heart work harder, which causes an increase in pressure(or energy) along the arterial walls. It means that heart is working more than in a case where a person has normal blood pressure. This is why people with high blood pressure are often prescribed diuretics, to eliminate excess sodium from the body to reduce the heart’s work load. A diuretic is any substance that promotes the production of urine. There are several categories of diuretics. All diuretics increase the excretion of water from bodies, although each class does so in a distinct way.

Preventing High Blood Pressure

Many people consume too much sodium, especially people who eat processed snack foods(fast foods), do not exercise and have a very inactive life routine have more chances of developing high blood pressure that their counterparts.

The bottom line is that if you don’t have high blood pressure, sodium is not going to cause you to have high blood pressure.

There are many foods that contain natural sodium. It is not only the sodium which you add to your food by a spoon that matters it is also that is present naturally. All what we are concerned is the food label and not the natural ingredients present in a particular food. You can find naturally occurring sources of sodium without adding extra salt to your food. Sodium is found is most meats, cheeses, and nuts. We should use the following recommendations to control our blood pressure:

Use more fresh fruit, vegetables and meat. Processed foods usually contain more sodium .

· When cooking use canola oil or olive oil, which contain less sodium, instead of butter or margarine

· Check food labels for the words salt or sodium. Salt often is used as a preservative or

fl flavoring agent. Any ingredient that has sodium, salt or soda as part of its name

(monosodium glutamate (MSG), baking soda, and seasoned salt) contains sodium.

· Do not use salt substitutes, especially those that contain potassium, without first talking to your family doctor or a dietician.

Try to season foods with herbs and spices rather than salt.

· Try products such as low or reduced sodium to curb sodium intake.

Plan meals that contain less sodium. Try new recipes that use less salt and sodium-containing ingredients and seasonings. Adjust your own recipes by reducing such ingredients a little at a time. Make homemade condiments, dressings and sauces that are low in sodium.

Taste food before it is salted. If using canned food, rinse in water to remove some of the salt before preparing or serving.

In the following table a comparison of sodium content in natural and processed food is

given. We can see that it increases with increase in processing.

Table 1. Sodium Comparisons—As sodium content increases, so does the level of processing.
Food Item (1 serving)	Least Processed Low Sodium < 100 milligrams (mg) per serving	Moderately Processed Elevated Sodium 100-350 milligrams (mg) per serving	Most Processed High Sodium >350 milligrams (mg) per serving
Apple	Raw apple, 2 mg	Apple pie (frozen), 208 mg	Apple pie (fast food), 400 mg
Bread	Low sodium bread, 7 mg	White Bread, 114 mg	Plain Bagel, 561mg
Cooking fats	Vegetable oil, 0 mg Butter(unsalted), 2 mg	Butter (salted), 116 mg Margarine, 140 mg
Chicken	Chicken, 69 mg	Chicken salad, 290 mg	Chicken pie (frozen), 907 mg Chicken noodle soup, 1,107 mg Chicken dinner (fast food), 2,243 mg
Corn	Fresh corn, 1 mg Frozen corn,7 mg	Corn flakes, 256 mg	Canned corn, 384 mg
Cucumber	Raw Cucumber, 2 mg	Sweet pickle, 128 mg	Dill pickle, 928 mg
Flavorings and Marinades	Lemon, 1 mg	Ketchup, 156 mg	Soy sauce, 1,029 mg
Seasonings	Herbs, 1 mg	Mayonnaise, 103 mg	Salt, 1tsp-1,938 mg
Potatoes	Potato, 5 mg	Potato chips, 200 mg	Mashed potatoes (instant), 485 mg Potato salad, 625 mg
Dairy	Plain yogurt, 105 mg	Milk, 122 mg Buttermilk, 257 mg	Choc. Pudding (instant), 470 mg
Red Meat	Steak, 55 mg	Ham (uncooked), 220mg	Corned beef, 802 mg Jumbo burger (fast food), 990 mg Lunch Meat (beef, pork), 540 mg
Tomatoes	Raw Tomato, 14 mg	Salsa, 200mg	Tomato sauce, 1,498 mg
Fish	Fresh Tuna, 50 mg	Tuna, canned, 384 mg	Tuna pot pie (frozen),715 mg Fish sandwich (fast food), 882 mg
Nuts	Peanuts, unsalted, 8mg Peanut butter, 81 mg	Peanut brittle, 145 mg	Dry roasted peanuts, salted, 986 mg
Cheese	Low sodium cheddar, 6 mg	Cheddar cheese, 176 mg Cottage cheese, 257 mg	American cheese, 406 mg
¹Notice that most “elevated” to” high” level sodium foods are processed, meaning they are more likely to contain added ingredients such as preservatives- which means more salt.

As a rough estimate 1/4^th teaspoon of common salt is equivalent to 500 mg( milligram) of sodium which means 1 full teaspoon is equivalent to 2000mg or 2 gram of sodium. Sodium chloride is 40 % sodium and 60% chloride.

So be careful and talk to your doctor before making any changes in your food recipes.

One response to “Salt does not cause high blood pressure”

jolicoeur1957 says:

August 22, 2013 at 12:46 pm

Thank you for sharing informative read 🙂

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