The White Falcon - 01.05.1987, Blaðsíða 8

by Evelyn D. Harris
American Forces Information
Service

/• v
oW /:.«•*. • Vt
V*. \
'nU»
Sv>V
•••.; V
Hypertension doesn’t mean
you’re too tense. It means your
blood pressure Is too high. '•••-..' '
May is National High Blood Pressure Month. As a
member of an organization that believes in good
health, you’re probably more aware of the need to
keep your blood pressure under control than
outside-of-DOD friends.
Every time you go to the clinic, the nurse puts a
cuff around your arm and measures your blood
pressure with a gauge. A normal reading for an
adult male is 120 over 80 millimeters of mercury.
The first number is the systolic pressure- the
reading when the heart is working hardest, pumping
blood out of the heart. The second number-the
lower one- tells the diastolic pressure, occurring
when the heart is filling with blood again.
A blood pressure .reading that stays at a level of
HO over 90 or higher indicates a person has
hypertension.
According to Dr. Motilal Pamnani, the connection
between stress and high blood pressure is not
clear. Pamnani is associate professor of
physiology at the Uniformed Services University if
the Health Sciences, the nation’s only military
medical school.
For example, he said,"Death row Inmates have no
higher blood pressure than the rest of the
population. But people in lower economic classes
do tend to have higher blood pressure." Pamnani
believes this could be related to the stress
suffered by the poor, but it could also be related to
diet or other factors.
"There is a clear relation between hypertension
and a diet that is high in salt and low in potassium,"
said Pamnani. However, he said, this is true only
for people who are more sensitive to salt. "The
majority of Americans eat a diet that is far too high
in salt, but they don’t all have high blood
pressure."
Only in four Americans has high blood pressure.
The rate for black Americans is almost 40 percent.
And about one out of two Americans has high blood
pressure by age 60. Other factors that increase
the risk of hypertension are being male, obese or
diabetic, or taking birth control pills.
Scientists have theories as to why
certain people are at higher risk. For
example, some speculate that blacks
tend to retain salt because they
originally came from a hot climate.
According to Pamnani, the evidence
for this is not conclusive.
Since untreated high blood pressure can result in
heart attack, stroke or kidney problems, keeping
track of your blood pressure is a good idea. And
so is eating less salt and more potassium.
You can get enough potassium by including
bananas, citrus fruits and juices and beans in your
diet. However, Pamnani warned against taking
potassium supplements unless your doctor has
prescribed them, since they can cause a variety of
side effects, ranging from mquth irritation to
stomach ulcers.
Even if you don’t think you're sensitive to salt,
it's a good idea to cut down. Pamnani said that we
get as much salt as we need from foods in their
natural state, so there Is no need to add salt in
cooking or at the table. "But once people are used
to eating salt, things don't taste right without it,"
he said. "It just takes self-discipline and time to
get used to a lower salt diet." Cutting down on salt
gradually makes it easier.
Some suggested low-or no-salt seasonings are
lemon juice, garlic, onion powder(not onion salt),
vinegar, herbs and spices. If you don't have
hypertension but want to reduce salt, Pamnani
suggested not adding salt at the table and going
easy on fast foods and highly processed foods such
as canned soups.
Other salty foods include dill pickles, canned
tuna(except for the kind packed without salt) and
baking soda. Pamnani also advised going easy on
salty condiments such as soy sauce, which has
1,379 milligrams of sodium in a tablespoon.
Monosodium glutamate -MSG- a flavor enhancer
commonly used in Oriental cooking, and sodium
nitrate, a preservative, are also sources of
sodium in foods. A tablespoon of salt has 6,589
milligrams of sodium.
Nutrition experts recommend a daily sodium
intake of between 1,100 and 3,300 milligrams.
Many Americans consume two to three times that
amount.
Reading labels can give you a good indication of a
food’s salt content. The Food and Drug Administ-
ration permits food processors to use the follow-
ing descriptive language in labeling products:
□ Sodium free-where a product has less than five
milligrams of sodium per serving.
□ Very low sodium-140 milligrams or less.
□ Reduced sodium-for foods that have at least 75
percent less sodium than usual.
□ Unsalted or no salt-added-for foods that are
normally processed with salt but to which none has
been added. However, a food so labeled may
contain sodium from another source.
All foods that make claims about salt must list
the number of milligrams in a serving.
8
The White Falcon