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Cutting
back on sodium is a good idea if you have hypertension.
And even if you don’t
Doctors
have long known that cutting back on salt or sodium
can help lower blood pressure in folks with hypertension,
silent condition that increases the risk of heart attack
and stroke. What hasn’t been so clear is whether
reducing
the amount of sodium in the diet will benefit those,
whose blood pressure is normal. Now comes word that
restricting salt can indeed lower normal blood pressure.
Though the effect isn’t as great, it’s still
important, according to a study published in the New
England Journal of Medicine.
The decrease in blood pressure
occurred regardless of race or gender and whether
or not study participants ate a “typical American
diet,” which is high in saturated fats and
skimps on fruits and vegetables, or the so-called
DASH (for Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension)
diet, which emphasizes lots of fresh produce, low-fat
dairy, fish and fewer sweets and which was proved
in 1997 to reduce hypertension. The biggest decreases
in blood pressure in this study were recorded in
subjects who ate the DASH diet and reduced their
sodium intake to 1,200mg day.
Why is the significant? Public-health experts estimate
that Americans consume, on average, about 3,500mg
of sodium-equal to about 9 grams of salt, each day.
Current guidelines recommend consuming no more than
2,300mg of sodium about 6gms of salt-daily. It’s
not that we are that heavy-handed with the saltshaker.
Most of our dietary sodium is added during food
processing. To get down to 1,200mg, you would have
to forgo most prepared foods, take-out deliveries
and restaurant meals.
As someone who periodically comes home late from
work too pooped to do anything but dial up some
sodium-packed Thai food, I know that eating home-cooked
meals all the time is not terribly practical. But
with a little planning and some self-awareness,
you can work around those occasional slips. Salt
is, after all, essential to life. The trick is to
adopt an overall pattern of healthy living and not
depend on any one thing to make up for bad habits.
So pay attention to how much salt you are eating,
but don’t forget to make fruits, vegetables
and whole grains a larger part of your diet. They
will help lower your cholesterol levels as well
as your blood pressure. Be sure to drink alcohol
moderately, if at all. Losing weight even just 4.5
kg, and exercising at least 30 minutes most days
of the week can also have a marked effect blood
pressure.
Folks with kidney problems should check with their
doctor before cutting back on salt. If you do decide
to cut down on salt, do it gradually to give your
taste buds time to adjust. Try substituting lemon,
parsley, pepper or oregano for salt.
Check food labels. Pasta sauces, sandwich breads
and frozen dinners often contains lots of sodium.
And remember, even if you don’t have to worry
about this now, you probably will eventually. Half
of U.S. adults have a blood pressure of at least
120/80-mm Hg, which is at the high end of what’s
considered ideal, and blood pressure usually increases
with age. “We can’t put everyone on drug
therapy,” says Dr. Frank Sacks of Brigham and
Women’s Hospital in Boston and the chairman
of the DASH-sodium study. But everyone can try to
do with a dash less salt. |
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Good
News
Abortion Option
Last year when U.S. government approved RU-486,
it said the abortion pill should be taken with
a second drug, misoprostol, to help expel the
fetus. That didn’t stop misoprostol’s
controversy-shy manufacturer, Searle, from warning
doctors that the drug could harm pregnant women.
Well, it doesn’t seem to, according to a
review of 200 studies that found misoprostol safe
for a number of obstetrical uses, including labour
induction and medical abortion.
Bad News
Diet Backlash
With holiday gorging finally over, you’d
think Americans would focus on improving their
eating habits. Don’t bet on it. A study finds
that Americans are fed up with worrying about
what to eat. More than 40% report they are tired
of hearing about which foods are good for them
and which aren’t, and 70% say the government
has no business doing out nutrition advice. The
folks most likely to eat as they please? Those
over 60 and men age 18 to 35.
Hari Today
Each year a quarter of a million Americans shell
out up to $70 a pop for a hair analysis, but a
report shows that the test, which is supposed
to diagnose nutritional problems, is, at best,
unreliable. Six popular labs were asked to test
hair samples all from the same head, for 30 minerals
and metals, including selenium, aluminum and lead.
Result? Reported concentrations for the same hair
differed wildly from lab to lab, often varying
10-fold. If that’s not enough to make your
hair curl, most of the labs also sell supplements
to remedy the ills they purportedly find.
Transmission Trouble
The sexually transmitted infection called chlamydia
has been linked to infertility. Now Finnish scientists
say it may also increase a woman’s risk of
cervical cancer. What’s more, chlamydia may
make women more vulnerable to the human papilloma
virus, the other STD linked to cervical cancer.
Chlamydia is easily treated with antibiotics.
If you suspect you have it, get to your doctor.
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