Submitted by Dr T on April 25, 2013 – 10:34am
Question:
I am a 60 year old male and just found out I have high blood pressure. I have been told to reduce my salt intake. I mostly eat fresh vegetables and lean meat. Anything other than that I have found has quite a lot of salt added. I do not intend to eat a lot of the products that have salt added but wonder what is a safe amount of salt intake in a day. I have had very little salt in the last 2 weeks but am finding I need a little bit more variety in what to eat. Also I work outside year round and sweat a lot during the summer and my understanding is that when you sweat you need a certain amount of salt intake.
When diagnosed with hypertension, your doctor probably recommend other lifestyle changes as well, including:
- Losing excess weight.
- Exercising.
- Limiting alcohol to 2 drinks Click here to see an illustration. a day for men and 1 drink a day for women.
- Cutting back on salt.
- Quitting smoking.
- Following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet or Meditarranean diet.
Rather than give you specific salt restrictions, most physician just encourage to minimize added salt usage (leave your salt shaker in the kintchen when eating). For added flavor tryhigh blood pressure spices such as garlic and pepper.
If your blood pressure is not too high, you may be able to avoid medications and avoid the risk of a heart attack or stroke.
Hope this helps,