Author Angela Antonova
22.06.2020 13:40
Health » Health and prevention
Hypertension is a disease of the nation. More than a third of the population suffers from this disease to varying degrees. And our condition depends on what we eat. We are what we eat. But we essentially don’t even have official dietetics – neither as a service, nor as a science and practice. How much salt can and should be consumed if you have hypertension? About all this and much more live at the Pravda video studio. Ru was told by Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor of Samara State Medical University Yan Vlasov.
Read the beginning of the interview:
Hypertension: every diagnosis has its own age
Hypertension I am even more dangerous hidden
Excessive salt intake as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease
08.Sep.2021
The World Health Organization recommends consuming no more than 5 grams of salt per day. However, most of the planet's inhabitants eat almost 3-4 times more per day. The following symptoms may indicate excess salt in the body:
High blood pressure
The reason is that sodium, which is part of the spice, retains excess fluid in the body, which increases the load on the heart. In the case when at first glance it seems that the pressure is rising for no apparent reason, it is quite possible that an excessively salty diet is to blame. In this case, you should bring your daily sodium intake to the allowed 3-5 grams as quickly as possible, otherwise high blood pressure may develop into a chronic disease.
Dry mouth
This symptom is most often a consequence of dehydration. But if a glass of water still doesn’t help quench your thirst and your dry mouth is still noticeable, this is a sure signal that it’s time to reconsider your diet. It is possible that there is too much salt in your diet. Salty foods cause drying of the oral mucosa. In such cases, dry mouth is not a symptom of general dehydration. And this, by the way, is not just an unpleasant symptom. If dryness persists, over time it can negatively affect the functioning of your taste buds.
Edema
Excess salt in the body causes too much fluid to accumulate in the tissues. As a result, swelling appears. By the way, women are more prone to the formation of edema due to monthly hormonal fluctuations. Some of the first signs indicating excess salt in the body are swollen fingers and ankles, as well as bags under the eyes. This condition is caused by the retention of excess moisture in the tissues. In addition, excess sodium causes the release of hormones, which also retain excess moisture in the body. Edema is not only an aesthetic problem. In most cases, this symptom may indicate the presence of serious diseases: kidney, heart or liver failure.
Kidney pain
If you experience lower back pain even occasionally, this may indicate a problem with your kidneys. A tendency to kidney diseases may be the result of excessive consumption of salty foods. For example, if the body contains a lot of sodium, then over time this leads to calcification of urine and, consequently, the development of urolithiasis. If a person already has problems with kidney function, then salt in his diet should be kept to a minimum.
Chest pain
People who abuse salt often experience chest pain. This signal should not be neglected: in many cases it can indicate the development of a serious cardiovascular disease. Lovers of salty foods should know that sodium in large quantities has a destructive effect on blood vessels. In particular, damage to the arteries caused by salt can cause hypertension and strokes, and if the damage occurs in the veins, atherosclerosis may develop.
Headache
People who consume large amounts of salt often complain of severe throbbing headaches in the forehead. Sometimes headaches in salty food lovers may appear in the back of the head. This is a very alarming signal, as it indicates an increase in blood pressure and the possible development of hypertension.
Frequent urination
When too much sodium accumulates in the tissues, the kidneys are activated and try to remove the excess chemical element from the body as quickly as possible. In such cases, frequent urge to go to the toilet is possible, including at night.
Bloating
Bloating is another possible signal from the body that there is too much sodium. The fact is that salt contributes to the accumulation of unprocessed food particles in the intestines. After some time, these lumps begin to rot, which is accompanied by the formation of gas bubbles. You can get rid of the problem with the help of sorbents and probiotics, as well as by giving up excess salt.
Afterword
In addition to all that has been said, excess salt also affects the pH of the body - making it more acidic. Violation of the acid-base balance is accompanied by decreased immunity, chronic fatigue and impaired concentration. If too much sodium accumulates in the body, the kidneys have to work twice as hard to get rid of the excess. And this leads to rapid “wear and tear” of the organ. The danger of this is that at a certain point the kidneys may simply stop performing their functions. Uncontrolled salt intake can also affect the health of the digestive system. Large amounts of sodium irritate the gastric mucosa, which, in turn, increases the risk of developing cancer. In addition, excess negatively affects the pancreas and can trigger the development of diabetes.
Bayrta Karmashova
Cardiologist, Nyagan City Clinic
Salt causes hypertension in two ways
Excess salt in the diet stimulates the release of adrenaline and vasoconstriction, according to researchers from Boston University School of Medicine in the United States.
They found that salt not only retains fluid in the body, increasing the load on the arteries, but also stimulates the nervous system, causing it to produce a stress hormone.
The traditional theory of the development of hypertension says that excess salt provokes the accumulation of excess fluid in the circulatory system. This leads to an increase in the volume of circulating blood and increased pressure on the walls of blood vessels.
However, scientists say that the accumulation of excess fluid caused by other reasons, such as increased blood sugar, does not lead to increased blood pressure.
Researchers analyzed data from various experiments and found that excess salt overstimulates the human nervous system. As a result of this stimulation, the hormone adrenaline is produced, which leads to a narrowing of blood vessels and an increase in blood pressure.
Scientists say that excess salt in the diet does lead to the development of hypertension, but the mechanism of this development is much more complex than previously thought.
Avoiding excess salt – in smoked foods, pickles and canned foods – is a necessary measure for those who want to keep their blood pressure under control.
Let's start with what pressure is determined by
Let's imagine that the heart is a giant pump, and the many vessels through which it pumps blood 24 hours a day are hoses of various sizes, with many branches. These vessel hoses carry oxygen and nutrients critical for functioning to various organs and tissues.
Unlike a sprinkler with hoses, where the volume of water passing through the hoses is more or less constant, in our case it constantly changes depending on the state in which we are - lying, running, injured, healthy. Depending on this, our tissues and organs require different amounts of oxygen and nutrients.
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In order to meet the body's varying needs and change the volume of fluid passing through the vessels, these vessels must be elastic (to expand and contract as needed), strong (to withstand increased pressure) and smooth (so that substances contained in the blood do not stick to walls of blood vessels).
So, in the vast majority of cases - approximately 90%, according to one of the leading American cardiologists, the cause of high blood pressure or hypertension is unhealthy blood vessels that have either lost their elasticity, or the ability to contract and expand, or their fluid capacity has decreased due to for atherosclerotic plaques. That is, from high-quality plastic flexible pipes, the arteries turned into metal ones, rusted to varying degrees.
Foods that will help raise blood pressure
If your blood pressure monitoring readings are low, but not low enough to require medication, you can try to correct them with tasty and healthy foods:
- Sweet, strong tea will help with a sharp rise in blood pressure. You can drink it with a sandwich (bread, butter and hard cheese).
- Grind the roasted coffee beans, about 50g, and add 500g of honey. Add fresh juice of 1 lemon and stir well. Keep the finished mixture in a glass container in the refrigerator. Take 1 teaspoon an hour after breakfast.
- Ginger has a mild tonic effect. Dissolve 1/2 teaspoon of ginger powder in 250 ml of tea (strong and sweet). For 7 days, drink 1 glass of this drink, divided into 3 doses.
- Salt helps raise blood pressure - seeds, nuts, cucumbers. However, you should not abuse them, putting an excessive burden on the kidneys.
Any of the proposed methods requires moderation from the patient. It is also necessary to remember that the problem of hypotension cannot be solved with diet alone. Timely consultation with a specialist and regular use of prescribed medications are necessary.
Why do blood vessels lose their function?
Scientists now agree that the loss of this function is based on three processes that they share with many other chronic diseases: inflammation, increased oxidative stress with the formation of excessive amounts of free radicals, and immune activation. In other words, what happens to a finger when it is cut - redness, a rush of blood, a subsequent immune reaction - also happens inside us, even though it is difficult to imagine. I’ll definitely write more about this at some point.
Inflammatory processes that occur in blood vessels lead to damage to the “Teflon” coating of the endothelium (the inner surface of blood vessels), making them less smooth, and also disrupting a number of biochemical processes. As a result, substances such as sugar and fats from the bloodstream begin to stick to the endothelium, cholesterol rushes to the site of damage (to repair them! Without damage, cholesterol has nowhere to stick and it only performs its most important functions for health!), as well as immune cells, which in the literal sense of the word, they devour free radicals formed at the site of damage.
In addition to the formation of plaques, damage to the endothelium leads to disruption of the synthesis of the most important gas for the health of blood vessels - nitric oxide - the so-called vasodilator, which is responsible for their expansion. Low levels of nitric oxide are characteristic of all cardiovascular diseases, including diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
What to drink if you have low blood pressure?
The drinking regime for hypotensive patients remains the same as for people with normal blood pressure: 30 ml per 1 kilogram of weight.
There is a common belief that hypotensive people need to drink as much coffee as possible. However, this drink is recommended in an amount of no more than two cups per day, excluding its use on an empty stomach. We are talking only about natural freshly brewed ground coffee. Instant drinks have little in common with coffee beans, so cardiologists do not recommend their use to anyone.
You can introduce such tasty and healthy drinks into your diet as juices (grape, carrot, grapefruit), green, black and white tea, dry red wine and cocoa.
How to restore vascular health
While there are many causes of poor vascular health, the good news is that most can be corrected with fairly simple changes in diet and lifestyle!
Diet
From the previous description it is easy to derive recommendations about what the diet should be: low in processed and refined foods, high in vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals that have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, a balance of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fats, which are significantly least determine the balance of our immune response.
Again, don't be afraid of healthy fats for cardiovascular disease, but rather be afraid of sugar in all its forms, as well as empty, processed foods including vegetable oils (except olive oil)!
In menu format, to restore vascular health, it is recommended to regularly eat:
- fatty wild fish, reasonable quantities of grass-fed meats such as lamb, beef, eggs from happy hens, unlimited vegetables of all colors of the rainbow, dark greens, fermented foods and drinks (sauerkraut, kvass, kombucha drinks), legumes, nuts, berries.
- from fats: cold-pressed olive oil, preferably unfiltered, a reasonable amount of coconut oil, butter and ghee, fats from grass-fed animals.
- in a small amount, depending on the individual reaction and health status (presence of excess weight, carbohydrate metabolism disorders), it is recommended to eat starchy vegetables and cereals.
There are also a number of so-called boosters with a pronounced positive effect on vascular health: fermented natto soybeans due to the content of nattokinase substances in them, which is considered to be a literally “eater” of plaques, garlic, freshly squeezed beet and pomegranate juices, green and black tea, dark chocolate and quality cocoa products, spices such as turmeric, hot pepper.
Life style
Equally important:
- maintain an optimal level of physical activity (more specifically, the most beneficial for the health of the cardiovascular system is walking, 7,000 - 10,000 steps per day, as well as short intense strength exercises, which I wrote about here)
- maintain quality sleep (regularly at least 7-8 hours of good sleep)
- control stress levels (tools that are especially effective are deep breathing, meditation, yoga, biofeedback techniques, heart rate variability (Heart Rate Variability))
Supplements
There are also a number of supplements containing the vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals most deficient in hypertension, which very well complement the nutrition and lifestyle protocol described above:
A quartet that includes the mineral magnesium, the coenzyme CoQ10, and the D-ribose amino acid l-carnitine, which are essential for cellular energy production in the mitochondria. With cardiovascular disorders, an additional load is placed on the heart, which simply requires energy. In addition to its role in energy production, magnesium also has a relaxing effect on blood vessels and can be very effective as an emergency remedy for reducing blood pressure or headaches, which are often caused by vascular spasms.
Important microelements are also:
- Vitamin K2
- Omega 3
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin D (be sure to check your status with tests)
- Curcumin (best in liposomal form and used in parallel every day as a spice)
- Resveratrol
PS some of these supplements have contraindications if you are taking medications to lower blood pressure, reduce blood clotting, etc.
