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I think adding salt and pepper to everything both while cooking and at the table is a habit that has been passed down for generations. I don't add salt to anything. As others have already said, we get plenty of sodium from other foods. The point is, some people are salt sensitive and it affects their blood pressure. For others, reducing sodium intake will not lower their blood pressure.
I am certainly mot arguing a bit about reducing sodium intake or what works for one person but not the other. I am simply saying, 1-the more you cook from scratch the less likely you are to overdo the intake and there are some foods that, no matter what, do taste better with some salt.
I think adding salt and pepper to everything both while cooking and at the table is a habit that has been passed down for generations. I don't add salt to anything. As others have already said, we get plenty of sodium from other foods. The point is, some people are salt sensitive and it affects their blood pressure. For others, reducing sodium intake will not lower their blood pressure.
I'm very fortunate in that salt doesn't seem to affect my BP at all. My mother, who was active and ate healthy, was on medication for high BP post-menopause. She was always apologizing for her cooking because she hadn't added any salt to it. (She was still a darn good cook.) I'm a lot like her genetically with the happy exception that, at age 66, my BP last week was 113/87. This is typical for me, and I snack on salt-coated pumpkin seeds and on sunflower seeds. Having said that- I do most of my own cooking and use very few processed foods. I do add salt and seasonings containing salt, but not that much.
And, to answer the OP's question- definitely not total BS. A dear friend of mine, who knew his BP ran high and didn't do anything to manage it, ended up having a stroke at age 64. He can walk with a hiking stick but can't drive and had to quit a job that he loved. It changed his whole life and not for the better. I'm not in favor of over-use of medications, but high BP should not be ignored.
I am certainly mot arguing a bit about reducing sodium intake or what works for one person but not the other. I am simply saying, 1-the more you cook from scratch the less likely you are to overdo the intake and there are some foods that, no matter what, do taste better with some salt.
Totally agree. If your health is good and salt has no impact on your BP then there's no reason to go crazy. Not everyone's BP is sensitive to sodium. And though I rarely use salt in my cooking, I certainly use salt on baked potatoes, fries, and popcorn - as long as you're not eating these items daily, it is unlikely to cause a problem.
I think the problem comes in when someone latches onto a sensible idea and then takes it to an extreme thinking that is better for them and they become martyrs for their particular "thing" of the moment. The middle road is pretty much always best.
Salt only raises BP temporarily in most people. There are some who might get chronic high BP from salt, but that is not typical. The idea that everyone should avoid salt is unscientific.
Not at all. Its pretty basic science actually. Eat something with a lot of salt. Take your BP. I bet it's higher. If your BP is high, you need to examine your diet. I'm not saying that its a guaranteed cure. I'm not saying that some people can't eat salted pretzels with nacho cheese 3 meals a day and have normal BP though its rare.
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Originally Posted by Good4Nothin
And too little salt can be unhealthy
So are too few carbohydrates. So is too little fat. What's your point? You are extremely unlikely to develop problems from too little sodium living in this country.
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Originally Posted by Good4Nothin
Coffee is not considered a major cause of high BP. I don't drink a lot of coffee, just because too much of anything is no good.
Once again, no one is saying there's anything wrong with coffee in moderation. But caffeine is linked to higher blood pressure. And if you're drinking coffee all morning and diet coke all afternoon, don't you think it might warrant consideration if your BP is high?
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Originally Posted by Good4Nothin
Smoking cigarettes is a major cause of high BP, and of heart diseases and stroke. And lack of exercise is probably another major cause.
All true. But by your same logic towards caffeine and sale one could reduce their BP by stopping smoking, and the BP falls pretty rapidly after cessation.
Once again, no one is saying there's anything wrong with coffee in moderation. But caffeine is linked to higher blood pressure. And if you're drinking coffee all morning and diet coke all afternoon, don't you think it might warrant consideration if your BP is high?
That doesn't seem to be what the current research shows:
Though coffee may increase your blood pressure temporarily right after drinking it, this effect doesn’t seem to extend far beyond the short term.
For people with high blood pressure, current research suggests that daily coffee consumption is unlikely to have a significant impact on blood pressure or overall risk of heart disease.
In fact, coffee may provide some health benefits.
For otherwise healthy people, research indicates that drinking 3–5 cups of coffee daily is linked to a 15% reduction in heart disease risk and a lower risk of premature death.
Coffee contains multiple bioactive compounds that are known to have strong antioxidant effects and may reduce oxidative stress in your body.
The study helps explain why earlier investigations produced such variable results. Coffee does raise blood pressure in people who are not used to it but not in regular coffee drinkers; youngsters appear more sensitive to coffee. And the hypertensive effects of coffee seem to depend on ingredients other than caffeine. Habitual coffee drinkers become acclimated to these ingredients so their pressures don't rise more than a point or two, but people who are not used to coffee can expect a temporary rise in their pressures after drinking regular or decaf. See https://www.health.harvard.edu/heart...blood_pressure
The idea that salt can lead to chronic hypertension has been promoted for a long time, without any conclusive evidence.
What would you consider conclusive evidence?
How about these three studies from the Harvard School of Public Health?
1. Intersalt: In the 1980s, researchers measured the amount of sodium excreted over a 24-hour period (a good stand-in for salt intake) among more than 10,000 adults from 32 countries. The average was nearly 4,000 milligrams of sodium a day. Yet the range was huge, from 200 milligrams a day among the Yanomamo people of Brazil to 10,300 milligrams in northern Japan. Populations with higher salt consumption had higher average blood pressures and greater increases of blood pressures with age. Four groups of people—the four countries with salt intakes under 1,300 milligrams per day—had low average blood pressures and little or no upward trend of blood pressure with age.
2. TOHP: Two Trials of Hypertension Prevention (TOHP) were conducted in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They tested the impact of lifestyle changes on blood pressure, including weight loss, stress management, nutritional supplements, and consuming less sodium. In each of the studies, small decreases in blood pressure were seen with sodium reduction over the 18 to 36 months the trials lasted. Years after the trials had ended, the researchers surveyed the participants and found that:
After an average of 10–15 years, the TOHP participants in the sodium-reduction groups were 25 percent less likely to have had a heart attack or stroke, to have needed a procedure to open or bypass a cholesterol-clogged coronary artery, or to have died of cardiovascular disease.
The higher the ratio of potassium to sodium in a participant’s diet, the lower the chances were of developing cardiovascular trouble. (9) This suggests that a strategy that includes both increasing potassium and lowering sodium may be the most effective way to fight high blood pressure.
3. DASH: The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) trials, begun in 1994, were major advances in blood pressure research, demonstrating the links between diet and blood pressure.
One study focused on sodium intake, and found that lowering sodium in either the DASH or standard American diet had a strong impact on reducing blood pressure.
The above is a clip from their report. You can read more about these studies here:
Its just another scam, like the thyroid medication. They say it has to be lifelong , lol.
I can only hope that some day you have thyroid issues, so you can see first hand what an ignorant statement that was.
While it would be wonderful if I didn't need to take thyroid meds for the rest of my life, I know exactly how horrible I feel when I am under dosed.
Ironically, when I was under dosed last year, my blood pressure increased. When I increased my thyroid meds, my BP decreased back to (my) normal.
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