Hello Friends,
It’s been a few days since Hale-Hearty came into existence.
My primary goal is to educate and share reminders once a week on health hacks that make for a hale and hearty individual.
I find that more than prescribing medications and helping patients get better, I wish that people would never be patients in the first place.
Thank you for the liberty to intrude your space on this first edition —Do Stay tuned, I promise to make it worth your while.
One question I often get from newly diagnosed hypertensive patients is, if they would ever be off medications.
Usually, I tell them, there isn’t a definitive answer but taking lifestyle modifications seriously could make that possible.
I have a senior colleague who made this work.
He started exercising regularly, he lost weight, he changed his whole diet. In his case, he had been told he would need to go on medications for both hypertension and diabetes.
He made the necessary changes and has been off medications for years.
Earlier in the week, I wrote a little about Polypharmacy
- the practice of prescribing 5 or more medications to one patient.
So you see, lifestyle medicine is really a thing and it works. The question is how serious are you? Can you bring on the dedication and discipline needed and sustain it?
Studies have proven the relationship between high salt intake and increased Blood pressure levels in the general population and in patients with hypertension.
Sodium is majorly consumed as salt, which usually comes from processed foods or is added to the food during cooking or at the table.
The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day, and that 1,500 milligrams a day is an even better goal. The average man or woman takes more than 3,400 milligrams of sodium each day-certainly above the recommended limit.
Restriction of sodium intake has been found to lower blood pressure levels and reduce the number of drugs needed to achieve hypertension control.
The Optimal goal is less than 1500mg per day— which has been shown to decrease Blood pressure values by 4/5mmHg.
This can be a decision you take for yourself and if you’re in the position to cook for the whole family, effecting this will benefit every family member in the long run.
Here are 10 Ways to Restrict your Dietary intake of Salt
Own a bottle of vinegar
I asked a Japanese friend how she could afford to cook without salt and one pointer she gave me was vinegar. Washing meats, fish with vinegar removes any unwanted and raw smells. This brings out the texture and fresh flavor of the raw food items.
Have side dishes.
We can take a page from how Asians eat rice. If your meal wasn’t just white rice and stew/sauce, but included a variety of side dishes, then you would have a variety of flavors to taste at any meal time reducing the blandness that is experienced with cutting out salt.
Photo by Sebastian Doll on Unsplash Shop fresh foods.
The best way to do this, is to patronize your local farmers. Going to the markets can be more of a hassle compared to the shopping malls but it’s cheaper and healthier in the long run.
Go once a week or twice a week if you’re constrained for time. We try to savage and mask the staleness of foods by over spicing and over seasoning. Invest in fresh foods and savor their original tastes instead
Read Labels—Choose healthier condiments.
Look out for seasoning with low sodium content and go for those. Watch out Soy sauce lovers!
Limit canned, brined, smoked and processed foods.
Salt is often used as a preservative in food processing and we are trying to limit that. Worst on this list includes canned fish, canned soups and vegetables, pork products such as bacon.
Eat more of fruits and vegetables.
Instead of going for the salt loaded popcorn, tacos, potato chips, bagels, go for vegetable sticks and fruit slices.
Limit take out.
Take out meals and fast foods such as cheeseburgers, chips, pizzas, hamburger, beef jerky and meals from restaurants are often over seasoned. Learn to make your own healthy meals at home.
Use Herbs and Spices, Seasonings
Enhance flavors with herbs, spices and citrus instead of reaching for the salt shaker. Here is a list of herbs or spices you can experiment with while taking out salt; Garlic, Lemon juice or zest, Ground black pepper, Dried onion flakes or onion powder, paprika, ground fish or crayfish, Ginger, rosemary, coriander, dill, and cinnamon.
Photo by Calum Lewis on Unsplash Use Salt Substitutes
Yes, salt substitutes do exist. These contain potassium chloride instead of sodium chloride. You would still need to check with your doctor in case you are on any medications that won’t go with this.
Go Salt free for a few meals— Start small. Start with fried eggs, plantains, white rice. Cut out salt when cooking any of these items. Retrain your taste buds to get used to saltlessness.
PROTIP; Gradually reduce your salt intake. Your taste buds will adjust over time and you wont miss the extra salt.
Step on these tips remembering that a low sodium diet, decreases the risk of heart disease, gastric cancer, kidney disease and osteoporosis.
Stay healthy and flavor your life with less salt.
—Dr Nguper
Download our free selfcare check list here! Best of all, you can share this to others who might also benefit!
Do you want to start eating healthy, start with your shopping list—Get our DASH DIET GROCERY CHECKLIST here.