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Everyone Knows Sodium Raises Blood Pressure, Right?

By Allison St. Claire
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Studies show that restricting salt helps a minority of the general population reduce their blood pressure, while either increasing blood pressure or having no effect on the majority of people's blood pressure.

There’s yet another “everyone knows” concept being promulgated these days. If someone suggested you should cut way back on sodium to fight blood pressure, heart problems, obesity and diabetes, you’d probably say: of course, everyone knows that.

And you would be mostly wrong.

The science shows that reducing salt will not make most people healthier, according to Sally Fallon Morrell, health researcher and educator. The level of salt consumption in the U.S. has remained stable for the last 50 years according to a recent Harvard study, yet the rate of obesity and hypertension has increased. Studies show that restricting salt helps a minority of the general population reduce their blood pressure, while either increasing blood pressure or having no effect on the majority of people's blood pressure.

Moreover, reducing salt consumption could cause health problems for many people. Studies have shown that low sodium levels can increase insulin resistance (a precursor to Type 2 diabetes), lead to babies with low birth weights, and decrease in cognitive abilities in the elderly.

In another new study, researchers examined the records of more than 5,200 Dutch men and women over the age of 55, and found that about 8 percent of them had low sodium levels, notes William Douglass Campbell M.D. These seniors who were low in sodium had a 61 percent increased risk of spinal fracture, a 39 percent increased risk of non-spinal fracture, and a 21 percent increase in the risk of dying during the six-year study period.

A new look at data on some 28,000 patients with either heart disease or a high risk of developing heart disease or diabetes found that people who consumed 4,000 mg per day actually had the lowest risk of heart disease. Those who only got between 2,000 mg and 3,000 mg a day actually had an 8.6-percent increase in the risk of dying from a heart-related condition, and a 5-percent boost in the risk of hospitalization for congestive heart failure than those who took in 4,000 mg a day.

Of course, that doesn't mean you should ignore your salt intake -- because the same study in the American Journal of Hypertension found that extremely high levels of salt are even worse.

The “right, it affects blood pressure answer depends on what kind of salt.

I was dumbfounded to read a national fitness columnist proclaim: “There is no nutritional difference between inexpensive table salt and natural sea salts!” Yes, both contain nearly identical amounts of sodium and chloride which our body absolutely needs, but industrial table salt is a completely refined, man-made substance produced from crude oil flake leftovers. The refining process not only removes 80% of its natural minerals, it adds harmful chemicals such as chemical bleach, sodium bicarbonate, fluoride, monosodium glutamate (MSG), anti-caking agents, potassium iodide, solo-co-aluminate and other aluminum derivatives. These additives and food preservatives can contribute to serious health problems, such as high blood pressure.

This is the cheap salt you’ll find in highly processed foods and fast foods. The processing and often low-nutrient food sources create lack of real flavor. No flavor, no sales. Salt enhances flavor, so they dump it on. Best bet for you: dump the processed stuff.

Full-spectrum sea salt, on the other hand, is obtained from naturally-evaporating seawater and is dried by the sun so no vital trace minerals are lost in the process such as magnesium, calcium, sulphur, bromine, potassium, boron, strontium, and silicon, among dozens of others.

So what to eat? Some foods naturally high in sodium/salt are fish, eggs, nuts, prawns, crabs, lobsters and seaweed. Other naturally occurring sources of sodium (although not quite as high) are celery, carrots, cauliflower, pineapples, jackfruits, and even fresh cow's milk.

Plus lots of kale and other leafy greens -- inorganic nitrates, found in these plants, may relax the blood vessels, allowing blood to flow more freely.

 


Recipe:

Farm-style Braised Kale


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Allison St. Claire loves to dream about, study, grow, play with, prepare and ultimately enjoy eating great food.

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