No or low salt diet - High Blood Pressure

I don't have high blood pressure, but have been watching salt intake for a log time--my brother-in-law is a cardiologist and insists on it. The best thing you can do is cook as many of your own meals as you can. That way you can control how much salt goes in. Put in as little as possible, remember you can always add--but not take away. After eating out, where salt is usually added, drink lots of water to try and flush it out. Start reading labels carefully for salt, sodium stats. Good luck.

I did have high blood pressure, for 23 years I was on meds. Those meds were terrible, spent 3 days in the hospital after one that I had been on for years made my heart almost stop(32 BPM).

Watching sodium and dropping 50 pounds my BP started getting too low and I've never taken any more meds. I walked 3-4 times a week for an hour too.

Good luck staying off meds. I wish I had really tried much harder to not have to take meds at first.

ForeverSunshine09 wrote: »

To control my sodium. I prelog my food til I am at or lower than my 2000my limit. I still get to eat some food that needs salt this way but, I can make different choices the rest of the day to compensate. I also started using garlic powder instead of garlic salt and basically just using some things that were previously pretty salty and looking for lower sodium versions.

That's a really smart idea!

Invest in a nice selection of herbs and spices and stay away from seasonings. Always buy garlic and onion powder, not salt, and mix up your own seasoning blends. There are great recipes online for things like taco mix (uses things like garlic, onion, chili powder, paprika, oregano) that you can make salt free.

Other than that, as others have mentioned, read labels carefully and buy food as close to its original form as possible. Get a beef roast or turkey breast and roast up your own sandwich meat rather than buying deli meat (unless you can afford Boar's Head, which makes a couple of really delicious no salt added deli meats). Stay away from salad dressings and use plain vinegar and oil. Salsa makes a really good salad dressing too and is easy to make with fresh ingredients.

I am on a low sodium diet for cardiomyopathy. The most important thing is to read the food labels. There is hidden sodium in all kinds of things. For instance, boneless, skinless chicken breasts are often injected with saline or chicken broth and can contain quite a bit of sodium. Spices are great but still check the labels. McCormick's Garlic Pepper has a good amount of sodium.

I have hypertension which unfortunately, diet and exercise don't control...though diet and exercise keeps my medications lower than they otherwise would be.

The best thing you could do sodium wise is to substantially reduce the amount of processed foods you eat. I try to do as much as I can with whole foods and scratch ingredients and try to keep my processed foods as minimally processed as possible. In that RE, I make sure I'm reading the labels and reach for low/lower sodium options. I also make it a point the consume things which up my potassium...often sodium sensitivities are attributable to too much sodium and not enough potassium (note, do not supplement potassium unless under the care of a doctor). Just google high potassium foods. I eat a lot of leafy greens, potatoes (blow a banana out of the water), coconut water, and I have a low sodium V8 pretty much daily.

Another huge aspect of getting HBP under control is regular cardiovascular exercise at a moderate level of intensity. With my meds and regular exercise, I'm usually around 125/78...I've recently had to cut back on my exercise for the last couple of months and my blood pressure was around 140/90. I've been back on my bike for a mere week and I'm clocking in around 135/85 and I would anticipate it will continue to fall as I get back into my routine.

I still salt my food, but not to the extent that I used to...it's a bit odd at first because we're used to everything being salty...but it really becomes nice when you can actually taste and enjoy the actual food you are preparing and eating.

I also don't eat out all that often as restaurants tend to drop sodium bombs on their food...a lot of places I used to really enjoy, I just can't eat anymore because all I taste is salt now.

earlnabby wrote: »

Invest in a nice selection of herbs and spices and stay away from seasonings. Always buy garlic and onion powder, not salt, and mix up your own seasoning blends. There are great recipes online for things like taco mix (uses things like garlic, onion, chili powder, paprika, oregano) that you can make salt free.

Other than that, as others have mentioned, read labels carefully and buy food as close to its original form as possible. Get a beef roast or turkey breast and roast up your own sandwich meat rather than buying deli meat (unless you can afford Boar's Head, which makes a couple of really delicious no salt added deli meats). Stay away from salad dressings and use plain vinegar and oil. Salsa makes a really good salad dressing too and is easy to make with fresh ingredients.

Really good advise right here, I learned a whole nother world playing with different spice and herbs.
The sodium hidden in so many things you would never realize till reading the labels and logging. Same thing with the meat.
The exercise also helped with my high blood pressure, getting the heart to work better.
I was able to control it through diet and exercise and was able to stay off the meds.