Get The Facts About The connection Between Salt And High Blood Pressure

Salt is a very valuable part of our diet and has been used for thousands of years to add taste to our food and as a preservative. Indeed, despite the fact that a lot of people in the West simply take it for granted, in many countries it is a very important economic commodity and many older readers will certainly remember the role played by salt in bringing British rule in India to and end in the middle of the last century.

Unfortunately salt can also be a key contributory factor to the problem of high blood pressure.

Salt is in fact a compound of chloride and sodium and when it comes to high blood pressure it is the quantity of sodium which we consume that we need to watch.

At first sight it might seem that controlling your intake of salt is just a question of restricting the amount of salt which you put into food when cooking and which you add to your food at the table. However, the true problem is the fact that most of the salt which we consume is contained in the processed foods which nearly all of us consume every day.

To make sure that you minimize the risk of hypertension you must keep your intake of salt below the recommended daily sodium intake figure of 2,400 milligrams and here are a few tips to help you do just that:

Remove salt from the dining table. If you diet is correctly balanced your food will contain enough salt without any need to add more while you are eating, so simply remove the salt from the table.

Learn to read food labeling. Food labeling laws are much improved these days and almost all foods carry nutritional information which includes the quantity of sodium which the food in question contains. You have to read the labels carefully though as often the sodium figure given will apply to the whole tin or pack and sometimes it applies to just a single serving.

Purchase low sodium or sodium free products. Many foods nowadays come in sodium free or low sodium options and, whenever possible, you ought to choose these in preference to the regular product.

Select low salt snacks. Most people enjoy snacking but try to pick things like vegetable and fruit and, if you feel that you cannot live without those crisps then choose varieties that are low in sodium or salt free.

Of course watching your salt consumption is merely one element of building a diet which is good for your blood pressure and you should also look at picking items from the wide range of foods to lower blood pressure.