Need to cut down on SALT!

Any tips, diets, foods to avoid, anything that will help me because it seems that everything in my storecupboard is too salty, and all the foods I love contain too much salt, help please i am going mad, my blood pressure is going up every day.

Re: Need to cut down on SALT!

I read somewhere that salt was now seen as not quite the villain it once was. This article albeit sometime ago might be worth a read.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/ar...-pressure.html

Re: Need to cut down on SALT!

Hi Pauline I have a problem with BP too and try to keep my salt intake down.

Porridge is supposed to be good for high BP , I have organic porridge every day.

I use herbs and spices as a substitute for salt and hardly miss it eg I put chives/parsley/or rosemary on potatoes, basil on tomatoes, mint on peas, chervil or parsley on carrots and lots of black pepper on everything

Re: Need to cut down on SALT!

Meg, thanks for your input, I do have porridge every day. Yes, I will start using herbs to replace salt in my cooking and hope that after a while I won't miss the salt, just need to keep an eye open for the salt content in staple foods I eat.

Re: Need to cut down on SALT!

Read up on sodium and potassium--Both are electrolytes and balance one another. If you need to keep your sodium level lower eat more potassium food. Fruit is the best high potassium food eg.fruit like bananas and dried apricots are excellent.

How you deal with diet and high blood pressure depends on what causes it.
If it's a cholesterol issue causing high blood pressure then oats are good because they remove ldl from the bowel but if blood pressure is caused by salt then oats will have a negative effect. One reasons for too much sodium in the blood system is the hormonal renin which causes the kidneys to retain salt even when you don't eat it. High renin produces suffer with this problem and usually take an ACE inhibitor medication to block renin production and control blood pressure. Do you know the reason for your blood pressure and have you had a blood test showing your sodium potassium levels.? Hope this helps in some way.

Re: Need to cut down on SALT!

Use LO salt when you are cooking, that should help.

Re: Need to cut down on SALT!

I've always ignored this hoo-haa about salt because I think I know my own body well enough by now to sense when it's running correctly, thank you very much!!
In the past I've cut down on salt, under pressure I might add, because a loved one had expressed concern but the last time I did so I found I was getting cramp, pins and needles and I felt generally a bit lethargic so I went back on a bit of salt with my food and it all stopped.
I do not have high blood pressure and I've never really had anything indicating that I might have a problem so I'll keep on as I am now.
The foods that we eat we choose very carefully for low additives, fat, colourings, preservatives, synthetic sugar substitutes, nuts and salt and we eat little red meat at all and it's very balanced according to my GP but I'm blowed if I'm going to give up the little salt that I do add when I think it needs it! stevmk2

Re: Need to cut down on SALT!

Use sea salt. Never use rock salt.

The chemical balance of sea salt is more like the chemical balance of our blood. It also tastes a bit 'stronger' so you use less.

I'm suspicious of blood pressure tests. Mine was high and they put me on amlodipine. Then I felt awful. So they gave me a 24 hour meter to wear.
Turns out I have 'white coat syndrome' - i.e. doctors and dentists make me anxious and my BP rises. The 24 hour meter showed my blood pressure fell back to normal naturally once I was back at home and had got used to wearing the meter.

Re: Need to cut down on SALT!

White coat hypertension can give a misleading reading in some people and using a home monitor is a good idea to eliminate this problem and give an indication on how the blood pressure is affected through out the day.

My daughter diagnosed with high blood pressure worn one of the 24 hour monitors. The results provided her doctor with enough information which prompted him to send her for a kidney scan. The scan showed a narrowed kidney tube that was hampering the function of one of her kidneys. She has since had an operation on the tube and is awaiting results to see if it has been a success.

Using these monitors is something that is being encouraged more often which has got to be a better option that a visit to the doctors for a sometimes insufficient one off reading.

Re: Need to cut down on SALT!

Hi Jonhny I bought a BP monitor for £15, it doesn't have lots of features like a memory to record blood pressure but it is easy to use and accurate.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Omron-Basic-...6777506&sr=8-1

..my BP goes sky high the moment I smell a doctor