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Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Prostate Cancer / June 2006Not cancer, but relevant to those with hypertension
Just because of our age, many of us have some degree of hypertension. We know our first step in reducing high blood pressure is reducing our salt intake, in case we're sensitive to it. So we hide the salt shaker and go cold turkey, knowing that we'll fuhgheddaboutit within a few weeks and not miss the salt. Caveats: 1. BP is not often sensitive to salt. 2. Ya gotta have SOME salt on such things as meat, potatoes, tomatoes, etc. if you want to taste them. 3. Most packaged food comes with salt in it, often huge quantities, so A. It's tough to avoid, but at least B. That lets us skip the salt shaker altogether and still get the salt we NEED. So we just stop buying salt, let our taste adapt, and we've improved our health, right? Guess again. The salt in commercial foods is not supplemented with iodine (saves them a penny a truckload, I suppose), so our thyroids are sacrificed in the HOPES less salt may lower our BP. For many, the iodine loss is more threatening than the excess salt was, as table salt is our best source of necessary iodine. In fact, it MAY be excess iodine, not excess potassium chloride, that can exacerbate hypertension. Just like most PC treatments, salt also seems to be even more controversial than we knew. I.P. > Just because of our age, many of us have some degree of hypertension. We > know our first step in reducing high blood pressure is reducing our salt > intake, in case we're sensitive to it. So we hide the salt shaker and go > cold turkey, knowing that we'll fuhgheddaboutit within a few weeks and > not miss the salt. I stopped using table salt many many years ago due to borderline high BP issues. I bought this salt substitute called NO-SALT. It's loaded with potassium, which is another thing many of us lack. Seems to me that there's plenty of salt in what I eat, but the iodine issue may be a valid one. Foods high in iodine are milk, yogurt, eggs, strawberries.  SignatureJK Sinrod www.sinrodstudios.com www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com > I stopped using table salt many many years ago due to borderline high BP > issues. I bought this salt substitute called NO-SALT. It's loaded with > potassium, which is another thing many of us lack. That's what I thought, too, until I learned that potassium chloride -- "No-Salt" and the potassium component of Lite Salt -- offers very low bioavailability. i.e., it just passes through. So we're between rocks and hard places, AGAIN. Seems the more we know about nutrition, the worse off we are. I.P. I use Morton's Lite salt and have for a million years. When I was dx'd with mild hypertension they said to pull the salt from my diet. It's impossible to remove all the salt from one's diet but I cut it way down and then had problems because I'd lowered my salt intake too much. What I sprinkle on my food is not a problem as I really am not a big salt user and never have been. It's what is hidden in processed foods and in restaurant foods. Seafood is an excellent source of iodine, except I can't eat it. So table salt is my main routine source of iodine. It's important to read the labels on foods. Lite and low-fat foods are not always better choices. Often they remove the fat from foods and add sugars to compensate for taste. It's been said for ages that we should shop the grocery store's perimeter and stay out of the isles. That's because the perimeter usually is where we find the meats, fresh vegetables and dairy products. The processed foods are in the isles. It's the processed foods that tend to foul our diets and thus our health. We have more available to us today then ever before yet our diets are the worst ever in history. Just about every fast food joint and chain restaurant has a web site. Go to them and read what your favorite foods contain. It's scary! I was raised on Adele Davis's nutrition and as a young woman did everything I could to feed my family healthy foods, including home grown vegetables. Then I started working and the kids flew the nest .... fast and easy was important. Now, I'm back to doing more things from scratch. I'm not saying I don't cheat and buy some processed foods; I just try to do it less often and I read the label very carefully. Cheese is one of the foods that varies greatly. The first indicator is whether it is real cheese or a cheese food. It is labeled usually right on the front of the package. Cheese food is a milk and oil product, and is not real cheese. The other thing is fruit juices. Fruit drink contains something like 10% juice and the rest is water and other additives. So look for the 100% fruit juice with no sugar added. Okay cranberry juice has to have some sugar/sweetener added or we'd never be able to drink it. Just be aware of your food choices. BTW, they are changing the food pyramid again. (Remember that pyramid thing from school?) I ignore it. LOL I don't think we have to limit ourselves to carrots and bark but most everyone could stand some revision of their diets. That doesn't mean we can never have something scrumptious and totally bad for us it just means we need to keep those things in perspective and consider them as an occasional treat. Unfortunately it took cancer to make many folks look at what they are eating. There are no what ifs; we've seen vegetarians and vegans who have PC. There's more to cancer than our diets but diet does affect our general health. Eat well and keep fit. It's not a 100% guarantee but it seems to help. Just my two cents. Bev > > I stopped using table salt many many years ago due to borderline high BP > > issues. I bought this salt substitute called NO-SALT. It's loaded with [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > I.P. > > I stopped using table salt many many years ago due to borderline high BP > > issues. I bought this salt substitute called NO-SALT. It's loaded with [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > > I.P. Eat lots of red meat! Seriously though, I think you need to take Vitamin C to absorb the potassium. There's an entire world out there of complimentary items that may only work well together. It's a symbiotic world and it's amazing how little our docs know about it. My wife is a RNP and is constantly telling me what to take, and what not to take with things.... of course I usually ignore her. SignatureJK Sinrod www.sinrodstudios.com www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com >>> I stopped using table salt many many years ago due to borderline high > BP [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > constantly telling me what to take, and what not to take with things.... of > course I usually ignore her. She's right, but at what point do we quit chasing complementary and contraindicated chains of foods and just go back to the basics . . . however one defines THAT? It's much like wallowing in cancer research: at some point it's time to spend more time living and less time wallowing, 'cause much of it means squat in the big picture. I.P. > >>> I stopped using table salt many many years ago due to borderline high > > BP [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] > > I.P. I'm shocked to hear you say this, because we've been down this road before you and I. I'm the guy that says screw it and eat bacon and whipped cream and live it up, while you're usually the other guy that reads and analyzes everything, and then makes decisions based on mortality tables. SignatureJK Sinrod www.sinrodstudios.com www.MyConeyIslandMemories.com >> She's right, but at what point do we quit chasing complementary and >> contraindicated chains of foods and just go back to the basics . . . >> however one defines THAT? It's much like wallowing in cancer research: >> at some point it's time to spend more time living and less time >> wallowing, 'cause much of it means squat in the big picture. > I'm shocked to hear you say this, because we've been down this road > before you and I. I'm the guy that says screw it and eat bacon and whipped > cream and live it up, while you're usually the other guy that reads and > analyzes everything, and then makes decisions based on mortality tables. You read (or I depict) me correctly only so far. Once I start encountering unresolvable contradictions, or contradictions that are resolvable but only at a cost that outweighs their impact, I tend to throw in the towel and call it good enough. Thus the cold turkey abolishment of certain highly offensive foods (to avoid temptation) yet oblivion to less obvious issues such as using citrus fruits to help assimilate potassium chloride; it's probably worth the effort, but so are a hundred similar "rules" I just ain't got time to study. And I don't consciously consult mortality tables except as one more piece of data in a decision, such as by how much a PC tx may extend my life in return for its downsides. Certainly occasional bacon or ribs or donuts isn't going to hurt anyone, but my way lets me make the decision just once -- in about the mid-80s -- and never have to make it again, rather than having to think about it every time I'm offered them. I save that dilemma for desserts when I eat out, as I prefer desserts to bacon any day. I'm guessing all my eating guidelines and rules will go out the window when my cancer gets terminal. Harmful foods -- whether sat fats to me or carbs to you -- take decades to do us in; there's no point in burdening the process of dying with dietary considerations. I.P. >> I stopped using table salt many many years ago due to borderline high >> BP [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > I.P. You're right on target with that form of potassium chloride passing through without being absorbed. One can overdose on potassium chloride that's well absorbed, that's why it's only available by prescription (brand names; K DUR or KLOR CON). Potassium chloride is a necessary supplement for folks who are taking a diuretic like Lasix as part of their hypertension treatment. Just about the time I was sleeping through the night, I had a bypass and they put me on Lasix twice a day for a while to control fluid buildup. It works, you can't hold water long enough to absorb any! Just as they advise that Cardura and Flomax should be taken in the evening, if you take a diuretic once a day, take it in the morning, preferably after you finish any commute you may have. Tom > Just because of our age, many of us have some degree of hypertension. We > know our first step in reducing high blood pressure is reducing our salt [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > I.P. As a chemist, I find it difficult to believe that Potassium Chloride, in lite salt is not bioavailable. Your body needs Potassium and Sodium ions, and will easily take them wherever they can be found. Too much Potassium can kill you, it is, after all, used in executions to stop the heart. As to processed food, Iodine can cause discoloration. Note that in home canning, non-iodized salt is specified. I have used Lite salt as a sodium substitute, it has a slightly more metallic taste that table salt. I also use herbal mixtures, ie Mrs Dash, also. In Summer, I make up a exercise drink, using tea, ice, lemon juice, 1-2 teaspoons lite salt, and one tablespoon sugar per 2 liter. It works real well for long bicycle rides. j. > As a chemist, I find it difficult to believe that Potassium Chloride, in > lite salt is not bioavailable. I've not done extensive reading on it, but my source was one of the authoritative health newsletters I subscribe to. I'd be happy to be proved wrong, as I sometimes get muscle cramps after too much exercise. I.P. >> As a chemist, I find it difficult to believe that Potassium Chloride, >> in lite salt is not bioavailable. [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > I.P. Try the mixture I use, I routinely ride for 2-4 hours in hot sun, with no cramping. you can adjust the levels of lite salt to your taste. I find that a too sweet solution not palatable during long rides, hence the lemon juice. j. > Try the mixture I use, I routinely ride for 2-4 hours in hot sun, with > no cramping. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I find that a too sweet solution not palatable during long rides, hence > the lemon juice. I drink and eat a wide variety of foods and sports drinks throughout my active days, and usually have no problems. But after a memorable day of windsurfing, which is a very intense, dynamic, and incessant leg workout of 6-10 hours, one hamstring sometimes cramps severely at night. We're told to eat bananas for potassium, but it takes 10 a day to fulfill ORDINARY potassium needs; you and I need more. Your solution -- hee hee -- sounds more palatable and practical. Now, how we balance that with blood pressure and iodine requirements remains to be seen, but my thigh gets my attention before my BP does. I.P. |
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