Facts On High Blood Pressure Sodium Intake

Put down that salt shaker and limit your sodium intake for too much of it may lead to high blood pressure. We often get this advice from health professionals. This is good advice for as long as you follow it.nnSodium is an essential mineral so you can\'t live without it. However, too much sodium intake can do more harm than good. We only need a little amount of salt to survive. However, most Americans get much more than they should. Let us see if we can solve this high blood pressure sodium intake problem.nnThere are a few important reasons why your body needs sodium. One of these reasons is sodium helps to normalize the water balance in your body. However, you have to use sodium in moderation since too much of it causes water to retain in your body which can then lead to edema and an increase your blood volume. The increased blood volume can stress the circulatory system which then can lead to high blood pressure. Of course there are other reasons for high blood pressure but combined with other factors or even by itself it is still a cause.nnSo how much sodium does our body exactly need? The American Heart Association recommended that we should get no more than 2,300 milligrams or a teaspoon of salt a day. But for most adults, as much as 1,100 up to 3,300 milligrams daily is assumed to be safe even though we only need around 500 up to 1,000 milligrams of salt daily in order to function well.nnSo how much salt are we getting right now? It is said that a regular American consumes between 6,000 up to 15,000 milligrams of sodium in a day and it can even get as much as 28,000 milligrams. This is exactly the reason why we need to take closer look at our sodium intake.nnSo why is it that we are getting more than enough sodium in our diets? The reason behind this is because unlike food in its natural state, the food that we usually eat contains sodium. Sodium is usually added to packaged food, processed food and foods coming from restaurants. We need to learn how to read food labels as the numbers can add up real quick. This will then enable us to keep track of our total sodium intake.nnWhen eating breakfast, lunch, dinners as well as all the snacks in between we need to keep our eyes open on all our food choices. If we want to reduce our sodium intake then we can always choose to eat natural foods like fresh vegetables and fruits, meats, whole grains and everything else that has no sodium added.nnIf you want to reduce your salt and high blood pressure sodium intake then you can to begin with baby steps. You can stop using prepared foods and use homemade instead. Moreover, start buying fresh products instead of canned goods. Drink lots of water instead of soda and if you really cannot avoid eating packaged foods then make sure you buy only those with low sodium labels.nnIf you follow these suggestions together with the other ways to lower blood pressure such as exercising regularly, having more omega 3 fish oil in your diet, and eliminating stress then your blood pressure will drop down naturally.