Reduce Salt in Your Diet to Lower Blood Pressure
Salt is a mineral which is found in most food as salt is necessary for the human body to function properly.
It’s added to many foods as salt helps enhance flavors and stabilize some food items.
Salt is also found in most processed snacks as salt enhances flavor and boosts the crunchiness of potato chips.
However, salt does not have to be eaten at every meal or snack because too much salt can cause health problems such as high blood pressure which can lead to heart disease or stroke.
Try to reduce salt in your diet by adding more fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes and nuts while cutting down on processed snacks with salt added.
Diet and supplements that provide an increase of nitric oxide can dramatically lower blood pressure. Click here to learn more about Nitric Oxide Therapy
Before going into some tips and tricks to help lower your salt intake, let’s understand how salt raises blood pressure.
How Does Salt Increase Blood Pressure?
1. When salt is consumed, it causes the body to retain water. This extra water raises blood pressure as it puts more stress on the heart to pump blood throughout the body.
2. Consuming too much salt can lead to an increase in the amount of calcium deposited in the arteries. This increases blood pressure as well as the risk for heart disease and stroke.
3. Salt can also damage the lining of arteries, leading to a build-up of plaque. Plaque narrows the arteries and restricts blood flow, which raises blood pressure.
4. Salt can also trigger the release of hormones which cause the arteries to constrict and raises blood pressure.
5. Lastly, consuming too much salt can lead to certain health conditions such as kidney disease and Cushing’s syndrome, both of which raise blood pressure.
How To Lower Salt Intake
Shopping –
- Read food labels and find products with less salt per serving
- Look for foods that are labeled “low sodium” or “salt free”
- Consider using salt substitutes like Mrs. Dash, NoSalt, Schnitzer’s Salt Substitute or Herbamare.
- Avoid salt added crackers and pretzels by looking for salt free options.
Cooking –
- If you’re reading a recipe and it calls for salt, consider replacing the salt with herbs or spices such as garlic powder or dry mustard powder.
- When cooking pasta, don’t add salt to the water or drain the salt from the pasta after it’s cooked
- Reduce dressings and sauces that have salt in them by using vinegar, lemon juice or spices instead of salt.
- Snacks & salt intake – Make salt-free popcorn by spraying it with salt free cooking spray before adding salt
Diets With Low Salt Intake
- The DASH diet (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) is a salt-free diet rich in fruits and vegetables that can help lower salt intake and blood pressure. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/dash
- Mediterranean Diet: A salt-free diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains.
Bonus Tip –
- Increase potassium intake such as bananas, leafy green veggies and oranges. This can help lower blood pressure because it works with sodium to regulate fluid balance in the body.
Diet and supplements that provide an increase of nitric oxide can dramatically lower blood pressure. Click here to learn more about Nitric Oxide Therapy
Conclusion for Reduce Salt in Your Diet to Lower Blood Pressure
By cutting salt out of your diet there are several benefits including lowering blood pressure which can reduce the risk of heart disease or stroke.
Many processed snacks or meals already have salt added, so reading food labels and shopping for salt-free options is a good way to begin reducing salt in your diet.
Try using salt substitutes when cooking or eating salt-free snacks such as salt free popcorn.
There are salt-free options for many recipes, dressings and sauces.
In addition, by increasing fruit and vegetable intake such as bananas, leafy green veggies and oranges you can help lower blood pressure in a salt-free way!
Thank you for reading my article on salt intake. I hope this information helps with your salt intake.
