EAT SMART
A pinch will do
DR. G. SENGOTTUVELU
|
Keep an eye on how much salt you’re consuming since it plays a major role in raising your blood pressure.
|
Watch what you eat: Try to reduce the amount of salt in your diet.
High Blood Pressure or Hypertension is the biggest single risk factor for death across the world causing strokes, heart attacks and kidney disease. Over 1.5 billion people worldwide suffer from high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a common cause and complication of all vascular diseases
Salt is a major factor on raising blood pressure. High salt (sodium) consumption is the cause of hypertension in about three in 10 adults. Hypertension is the major risk factor in cardiovascular diseases, accounting for 64 per cent of strokes and 49 per cent of coronary heart disease.
Reducing sodium reduces blood pressure. Globally, seven million die every year because of high blood pressure. Many of these deaths could be prevented by eating less sodium.
Foods of animal origin contain more sodium than those of vegetable origin. On the average 5 to 10 gm sodium chloride is ingested per day in an average diet.
Knowing your risk for heart disease is the first step towards the prevention of deadly heart attacks. It is important to start lifestyle changes early in life rather than after one develops cardiac problems later in life.
On an average diet about three to five gm of sodium is excreted in urine. On a low salt diet and in starvation, urinary excretion may fall to very low levels.
How much is too much?
Sodium is an important electrolyte that controls fluid balance, blood pressure and blood volume. The kidneys regulate sodium balance. Salt-sensitive hypertension is more common amongst Indians. An adult with high blood pressure is at increased risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and kidney failure. Minimum daily sodium requirement is about 1.5 gm and the maximum recommended daily level is 2.3 gm (1 teaspoon salt is equal to 2 gm sodium).
Reducing daily sodium intake to within the recommended dietary intake (RDI) of 0.92-2.3 gm may be one way to reduce heart disease risk.
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension recommends a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and low fat dairy products with a reduced content of saturated and total fat and a reduced dietary sodium intake not more than 2.4 gm of sodium or six gm salt.
If patients find the food unpalatable because of these restrictions, they may refuse to eat. So, a variety of flavourings such as lemon juice and herbs may be used to improve the taste of the food and increase acceptance.
The writer is an Interventional Cardiologist based in Chennai.
Salt fact file
The average daily salt intake worldwide is approximately 9-12 gm in adults and 1-1.2 gm in children up to 3 years.
The World Health Organisation recommends not more than 1 teaspoon (5-6 gm) of salt a day.
Recent evidence recommends daily intake of only half a teaspoon (2-3 gm) of salt a day and even less for children.
1 gm of salt contains 393 mg of sodium. If salt intake is reduced by half, it would save approximately 2.5 million deaths a year from strokes and heart attacks worldwide.
Sodium in your food
Sodium more than 400mg a serving: Cheese, flavoured and salty potato chips, powdered sauces, noodle snacks, pickles, salted nuts, salted fish, smoked meat, soya sauce, table sauces, canned meats, omelette, butterscotch and chocolate.
Sodium 200-400mg a serving: Cookies, breakfast cereals, burgers, cakes, cooking/table sauces, pizza, sandwiches, fried eggs, caramel.
Sodium less than 200mg a serving: Boiled eggs, fresh fish, fresh cheese, fruits and vegetables, homemade bread/sauces/soup, rice, unsalted nuts, plain cottage cheese, plain popcorn, peas, beans, seeds, lemon, orange, spinach, sweet corn, guavas.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Magazine
