One Snarky Chica with Issues

I recently went to the doctor for a sore throat and discovered that my blood pressure is high. My reading was 145/90. Looking at a blood pressure chart, that falls under Mild, Stage 1. With an ideal reading being 120/80. Upon realizing this information I knew I needed to focus on lowering that blood pressure as I’m not even 30 yet!

I didn’t know a lot about what causes high blood pressure other than being overweight and salt. So, I did some research.

To prevent high blood pressure you should:

• exercise regularly
• quit smoking if you smoke
• limit your salt and alcoholic beverage intake
• eat a diet low in saturated fats
• cut back on caffeine
• maintain a healthy body weight

If you already have high blood pressure like me there is a good chance that you can treat it without having to take medications. For instance, I know I’m carrying around a little extra weight. I read somewhere that for every 10 pounds you lose you can drop 1 number on your blood pressure reading. Here’s what I (and you) can do to lower the ole blood pressure:

• lose weight
• reduce salt in diet
• reduce caffeine in diet
• eat more fruits and vegetables
• get more exercise

When I started looking at the foods I eat I was surprised by the amount of sodium in them. Some of the shocking top offenders were salad dressing and dill relish. The recommended daily sodium intake, based on a 2,000 calorie diet, is less than 2400 milligrams of sodium.

Processed foods have the highest amounts of sodium in them. and don’t forget sodas - I don’t drink them any more but even the diet ones are draedfully high in sodium. Olives, pickles and cheese have high amounts of sodium. Even my frozen Eggo waffles are rather high in sodium. Frozen foods, boxed meals and canned soup are the worst things I have seen as far as high sodium amounts. Just looking through my pantry I realized it that is was no wonder that I had high blood pressure - everything has loads of sodium in it!

Except for my 1-minute Quaker Oats.

The good news is that a lot of foods come in ‘low sodium’ varieties. I was buying some canned albacore at the grocery store this week and noticed that the sodium was around 250 mg for the can. After a bit of looking around I noticed a low sodium variety that offered around 35 mg of sodium for the can.

If you are looking for ideas of what you can eat that is low sodium, I found a site that might be helpful. Low Salt Foods has lists of items that are low in sodium. Go to ‘Food Center’ at the top of the page, then ‘Low Sodium Foods’ and select a category.  I see that the frozen cherries I had for a snack today are quite low in sodium. Go me!

If you are looking for a list of the sodium content for common foods you are in luck, as I was looking for that too.

The American Heart Association recommends avoiding the following high sodium foods:

Have a look in your pantry and read some labels - you’ll probably be shocked like me!