High blood pressure and salt

Edwardia

My mother has been told her blood pressure has gone up. She asked me to find out if there's a salt GDA for people with high BP. Anyone know please ?

The GDA for healthy people is 6g per day. 1 teaspoon is supposed to be 0.2g I think. My mother is sticking half a tsp in every veg she eats, plus she eats quite a lot of bread/baked goods and has veggie ready meals and pasta. I think bread is quite salty ?

TIA x

Gingernutty

This link is pretty old but it's still very informative.

Yes - your mum needs to stop adding salt to stuff and to reduce the amount of processed bread, cakes and pastries.

There is stuff called LoSalt but that needs to be used sparingly too.

I'm paying attention as I've been told to watch my blood pressure

hw185

Edwardia wrote: »

The GDA for healthy people is 6g per day. 1 teaspoon is supposed to be 0.2g I think. My mother is sticking half a tsp in every veg she eats, plus she eats quite a lot of bread/baked goods and has veggie ready meals and pasta. I think bread is quite salty ?

TIA x

Each teaspoon is about 6g so if your mother is adding half a tsp to everything she is probably consuming far in excess of 6g per day. I think bread is usually about 1g per slice but obviously it varies depending on the make. Ready meals I say typically have between 1g and 3g of salt each

Fire_Fox

The simple answer is as little as possible: a teaspoon is around 5g but can be more if it is heaped at all so your mother is way over the recommended amount at present. There is salt in almost all processed foods, even sweet ones. Ready meals or packet sandwiches can easily have the recommended amount in one product.

Balance the sodium with plenty of it's opposite mineral potassium, this is found in fruit and veggies, aim for nine portions every day. Also be sure to get plenty of magnesium found in beans, lentils, nuts, seeds and wholegrains because helps relax muscles.

Edwardia

Thank you for all the replies. I summarised to my mother and though she had asked me to look up the salt GDA it seems that she assumed that she was doing OK and didn't need to alter anything.

Now that she knows she has to cut down on the salt in vegetables, salt in porridge, salt in pasta, salt on eggs and look at the ready meal labels she is not a happy veggie.

I brought up the lentils, beans, nuts, seeds and wholegrains and she told me that she only eats wholemeal bread and muesli. Where do you get your protein from asks moi, she tells me eggs, cheese, butter, milk, yogurt, Quorn and a French soya dessert her frere brings over from France.

She used to cook up a storm but since my father died she doesn't feel like cooking for one. Seems to me her diet is going to pot.

Fire_Fox

Edwardia wrote: »

Thank you for all the replies. I summarised to my mother and though she had asked me to look up the salt GDA it seems that she assumed that she was doing OK and didn't need to alter anything.

Now that she knows she has to cut down on the salt in vegetables, salt in porridge, salt in pasta, salt on eggs and look at the ready meal labels she is not a happy veggie.

I brought up the lentils, beans, nuts, seeds and wholegrains and she told me that she only eats wholemeal bread and muesli. Where do you get your protein from asks moi, she tells me eggs, cheese, butter, milk, yogurt, Quorn and a French soya dessert her frere brings over from France.

She used to cook up a storm but since my father died she doesn't feel like cooking for one. Seems to me her diet is going to pot.

So she is vegetarian? If so where is she getting her long chain omega-3s from - does she eat omega-enriched eggs (Columbus or Goldenlay) and take a high strength marine algae supplement like Opti-3? Very important for cardiovascular health and are powerful anti-inflammatories. Ideally we would all get 3g DHA/ EPA per day but that is difficult without fish oils.

Try to encourage your mother to eat unsalted nuts, seeds, beans or lentils - canned for ease - if you eliminate one food group it's important to eat a wide variety from all the others. Many vegetarian ready meals are packed with white/ refined carbohydrates (flour, breadcrumbs) so she probably is not eating enough wholegrains to get all the minerals she needs OR her diet is too carb heavy.

Butter does not contain any protein; milk, yoghurt and soya desserts very little. Eggs and Quorn are good but still lower than meat and fish so it is particularly important for vegetarians to eat protein foods little and often starting at breakfast. Nuts and seeds are very rich in protein so definitely worth stocking up on, walnuts and pumpkin seeds are sources of short chain omega-3s which convert to the useable long chain format (but only 10%+).

I really like Marigold reduced salt vegetable bouillon powder - I add it to eggs and veggies for flavour. It is about 25% salt so could be a good halfway house to help wean your mother off adding regular salt to her food? If she likes Marmite, there is Meridian no added salt yeast extract and Natex reduced salt yeast extract (~2% salt). I like the Natex on toast but can only cook with the Meridian so it's worth trying both if one does not suit.

Edwardia

Yup, vegetarian.. she gets her eggs from her best friend who's a retired farmer and he has a hobby flock of free range chickens. No idea what they are fed on but they are really free range, I've seen them.

Maman grows her own strawberries, rhubarb, apples and tomatoes and quite a few herbs. She forages wild garlic, sorrel and blackberries and tries to buy most of her fruit and veg locally as she lives in the country.

My mother does sneak the occasional piece of salmon fillet as she loves it. I encourage her and tell her to buy wild not farmed. I'd say she has some about 1-3 times a fortnight. Her GP encourages her too as she has osteoporosis.. The freezers are really stuffed to the gills otherwise I'd suggest she bought a bag of wild Alaskan salmon fillets. She won't eat other fresh fish and other than the occasional French brand of tinned sardines she doesn't eat tinned either.

She does have some Marigold but I don't t know if it's the reduced salt one. If we can't find it would the reduced salt Kallo organic vegetarian stock cubes be OK ? Or the Heinz Cook At Home organic vegetable stock cubes (for baby food) ?

Never in this world would she eat Marmite but if it's in a recipe she will. Being a serial dieter despite being tiny doesn't help. She announced on Monday that she's doing the 5:2 and I asked her why " to lose four pounds ".

I need a head-banging emoticon here.. I will encourage her to eat nuts, seeds, beans, fish and whole grains

Thank you x

Fire_Fox

Any product that is significantly lower in salt would do fine but I found the Kallo no added salt cubes pretty tasteless. Marigold reduced salt is available from Tesco - on the organic or free from shelves usually - or on Amazon. Maybe add in the marine algae supplement I suggested, that amount of salmon and free range will not supply enough omega-3. Being underweight or fasting really won't help her bone health but I am sure you are aware of that.

Edwardia

The Tesco near her place is huge I'll suggest we go there thanks and if they don't have it there she uses Amazon.

Would Holland & Barrett have the supplement ? Or Boots ?

I know, it really bothers me that she neglects her health now. That's why I think she should see a bereavement counsellor to somehow get her to see she is worth it and she does matter and her life isn't over because her husband died.

She has some weird ideas on health. She thinks now that I've lost weight I must be fitter and I said no being slim does not automatically mean fit.

Mortgage_Reduction_Novice

Could you suggest batch cooking to her? Perhaps time spent making a hearty vegetable stew or similar and freezing portions could be the enjoyable large cooking she used to do while allowing healthy and easily re-heated meals on days when she'd not interested in spending time cooking for one.

Fluid intake (specifically water) can counteract to a certain extent a higher than recommended salt intake. While drinking loads of water should be used to replace her cutting down on salt.... it could help with the blood pressure symptoms.

Fire_Fox

Edwardia wrote: »

The Tesco near her place is huge I'll suggest we go there thanks and if they don't have it there she uses Amazon.

Would Holland & Barrett have the supplement ? Or Boots ?

I know, it really bothers me that she neglects her health now. That's why I think she should see a bereavement counsellor to somehow get her to see she is worth it and she does matter and her life isn't over because her husband died.

She has some weird ideas on health. She thinks now that I've lost weight I must be fitter and I said no being slim does not automatically mean fit.

Will she speak with her GP? A good one should notice/ address her weight if it's too low, they would link it in with the bereavement and the osteoporosis.

Can only see flax oil on H&B and Boots' website. You can get a bulk deal on the Opti-3 site, singles also on Amazon or eBay.
http://www.opti3omega.com/shop/uk.html
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Opti3-Vegetarian-Supplement-vegetarian-capsules/dp/B0055R0BN4/ref=sr_1_11