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Shaking the salt habit is worth the effort

Brenda says it wasn’t easy to cut back on sodium, but she’s already reaping health benefits
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I don’t want to get too much into the weeds here but as sure as the day is long I know we have to shake the salt habit. One thing I did learn as I researched this topic is that table salt and sodium are not the same. Table salt is 40% sodium 60% is the mineral chloride.

I just had to know about salt since I have a good friend who had a bit of a blood pressure problem. He was advised by his health care provider to cut back on salt. How did that work out for him? So far good results –his blood pressure is down. I said to myself, in my infinite wisdom, why don’t I try to shake the salty habit? Easier said than done since so much of our food is loaded with sodium.

Anything processed has lots of sodium. If the food is from a fast food place you can be well assured that the salty taste is a real come-on for those of us who desire it. I had my own salt issue when I was buying a frozen dinner or two. Sodium up to the eye-balls. What was I thinking? Obviously not much.

I have been trying the lower salt idea for three weeks now. Blood pressure is down 15 points, weight is down 12 pounds. I was told that I could manage to have 1500 mg of sodium a day. No easy task I have to tell you. I know too that we cannot eliminate all sodium. Our body needs some of that stuff. It helps get out nerve impulses to contract and relax muscle fibres. That includes those in the heart and blood vessels. When we see that 1 tsp table salt contains 2300 mg of sodium something needs to be done.

I was bad with the salt habit. Good on a boiled egg, loved it on a piece of avocado. Sodium was in the noodles I liked, quite enjoyed pork and beans. And so on and so on. I see that even cornflakes has sodium.

You might not be willing to give up salted popcorn or some food which is processed mightily. I suppose if you would like to see some improvement in your health it could be worth a try. As usual you would be best advised to check with your health care provider before trying anything new. Shake the habit.

You could call 250-846-5095 email a note to me:



mallory@bulkley.net

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