Over the next few weeks, I’m going to suggest a few health focus resolutions or goals that you can work on
New Year’s Resolutions and Goals set to improve your health and well-being.
Not that we need the New Year to be the reason for a resolution but it does feel like the prefect time to drop old habits and pick up new ones. It’s also a great time to revisit those personal goals.
Over the next few weeks, I’m going to suggest a few health focus resolutions or goals that you can work on.
So we’re going to kick the first week of the year with:
“Go and get your blood pressure checked“
“In the UK, high blood pressure is the third biggest risk factor for all disease after smoking and poor diet.
Around one in three adults in the UK has high blood pressure and half of people with high blood pressure are not diagnosed or receiving treatment”- Blood Pressure UK
For a number of social, financial, environmental and racial reasons, Black communities across the UK and USA have higher rates of high blood pressure in comparison to White counterparts. See links below and how you can check your blood pressure at home and how to read the results.
How to get your blood pressure checked:
How to measure your blood pressure at home
Check what your blood pressure reading means:
Check your blood pressure reading – NHS
Salt intake
One of the reasons for high blood pressure is due to a high salt diet.
Most of us don’t even realise that we are regularly going over the daily limit of salt intake, which is 6g (or less than 2,300mg of sodium) for adults. This equates to roughing 1 teaspoon a day.
Having slightly more that 1 teaspoon of salt a day doesn’t sound like it could have a negative impact on your health but it can.
To be healthy, we do need a bit of salt
Salt (sodium chloride or NaCl) is needed to help control blood pressure, facilitate nutrient absorption, allow muscles to contract and relax efficiently and control the flow of flow in and out of cells.
In cases where salt is too low in the body (this could happen due to excessive sweating and/or taking in loads of fluid) this can lead to:
– Low blood pressure
– Dizziness and increased risk of falls
– Nausea, vomiting and reduced appetite
– Muscle weakness
– Seizures
– And in severe cases: reduced brain function, fluid on the brain and death
(quite debilitating symptoms that would lead most people to seek medical attention straight away!)
The consequences of high salt are highlighted more because the it’s more likely that one will have a lifestyle leading this to than low salt intake AND because the symptoms of high salt intake tend not to be picked up until a blood pressure test. Symptoms of high blood pressure can be quite easy to ignore or people might think they will sort its self out over time:
– Blurred vision
– Nosebleeds
– Shortness of breath
– Chest pain
– Dizziness
– Headaches
It’s important to seek medical advice if you are or have been experiencing any of the above symptoms which could be an indication of low sodium in the body or high blood pressure!!
Black communities and high blood pressure
As mentioned above; for a number of social, financial, environmental and racial reasons, Black communities across the UK and USA have higher rates of high blood pressure.
Diet and Salt
When we look at how much salt is in some everyday foods, you can see how easy it is for salt intake to go up
| Handful (30g)of salted nuts | 0.24g |
| 1 tablespoon ketchup | 0.39g |
| 1 x packet (35g) of crisp | 0.44g |
| 2 slices of bread | 0.44g |
| 125g serving of tomato pasta sauce | 0.82g |
| 2 slices of hard cheese | 0.86g |
| 2 thin sliced of cured meats ie ham, salami | approx 0.86g |
| TOTAL | 3.61g of salt (60% of salt intake limit) |
Home cooked meals have not even been taken into consideration yet!
Yes, salt is in table and rock salt but it is also in:
– stock cubes such as Knorr and Magi cubes
– All purpose seasonings
– Soya sauce, Worcester sauce and Henderson’s relish
– Ingredients used to add flavour to meals such as shrimp powder, salt fish, smoked meats or dried fish
At Carbon Nutrition, we encourage and are promoters of home-cooked meals especially as this is an easy way to regulate home much salt we are consuming.
So, if you have checked your blood pressure and using the NHS blood pressure ready tool have identified that your blood pressure is high OR if you estimate that you are having more than 6g of salt a day you can try the following strategies
It takes around 10 days for tastebuds to adjust to so if you are accustomed to salty foods, gradually reduce the amount so your tastebuds and slowly adjust
Ways to reduce salt intake: Tips from a Dietitian
– Gradually reduce salt used in cooking so you can gradually gets used to the new taste
– Continue to use fresh or dried herbs to season foods
– Instead of using pre-mixed seasonings which already contain salt, look at the ingredients and create your own mix with less salt
– Use salty foods (ie salted fish, smoked meats, cheese, condiments) to add flavour INSTEAD of salt and stock cubes to keep the meal nutritious, flavourful while also keeping an eye on the overall salt intake
– Limit intake of salty snacks and supermarket foods. Choose ‘reduced salt’ or ‘no added salt’ instead
Blog post has been written for general information purposes only. For specialist advice please feel free to get in touch and book a free 10min consultation.
For further information
https://www.bhf.org.uk/informationsupport/risk-factors/high-blood-pressure/symptoms-and-treatment