Salt And Hypertension - The Deadly Combination
It has been observed that there is indeed a close connection between salt and hypertension as the more salt you consume, the higher your blood pressure would shoot up. Of course, the condition is that you should be already suffering from hypertension to experience this effect fully, though sometimes salt intake affects even people with normal blood pressure adversely.
There are many other damages that are directly caused by the consumption of excess salt, such as water retention in the body causing hands and feet to swell because the tissues would store fluid; osteoporosis or thinning of the bones, aggravation of asthma, acceleration of kidney disease and even stomach cancer.
How To Disengage The Salt And Hypertension Connection?
There is only one thing to do here, i.e. cut off the consumption of salt. According to the DHFSA (Department of Health and Food Standards) the optimal amount of salt an adult should consume per day should not exceed five to six grams. If you can do without salt, it would excellent for you as this would be one of your best weapons against hypertension.
In order to cut off the salt and hypertension connection you need to first of all understand and identify from where you get your salt. The primary source of your salt is the cooked food you have as your meals. Ensure that you never add salt to the already cooked food. Another important source is the processed food that abounds all around you. It does not matter whether you control the salt that you put in your cooked food if you binge on processed foods.
Many people complain that it is difficult to exile salt from their table and hence continue promoting the salt and hypertension equation. It is true that initially it would be difficult to adjust to a lower level of salt as the food would feel tasteless. However, if you are consistent with it you would find that your taste adjusts in matter of weeks and you would end up enjoying food cooked with less salt.
Tips That Would Help You Short Circuit The Salt And Hypertension Connection
Ban the table salt from the table, as you should do without tomato sauce, ketchup and soy sauce. Never add salt to the already cooked food.
Note that there is a high concentration of salt in stock cubes, soup packets, sausages, dried fish, processed cheese, etc. Avoid all these. Switch to fresh vegetable and fruits diet and have meat, particularly red meat occasionally or not all.
