Not long before we left on our trip to Hawaii last October we went to our annual work-sponsored health fair. Mostly we went to get our flu shots and talk to our friends. While there we also decided to have someone take our blood pressure.
Mine was slightly higher than normal. Explained away since I was stressing about our upcoming six-hour flight with a baby.
Commence scary music.
Commence frantic internet searches for help.
(Besides genetics) The culprit: salt/sodium
So Ron decides he won't add any extra salt to anything.
I tell him that's not good enough.
I say, "I don't want to go downstairs to your office one day because you didn't come up for lunch and find you hunched over in your chair from a stroke."
That might have been a little harsh.
But sometimes the truth hurts.
And sometimes the truth is hard to deal with.
High blood pressure kills.
It can also hurt your ateries and organs and you won't even notice.
One in Five people don't know they have high blood pressure.
So now we've turned into label natzis.
We have discovered some sad, sad truths about what we're eating.
In case you didn't know, canned food is PURE EVIL!!!
For reference, an adult can eat up to 2400 mg. of sodium per day. To lower blood pressure you're only supposed to eat 1500 mg. or less per day.
It's been difficult trying to cut out excess sodium.
For example, here's the sodium breakdown of a common lunch, a Turkey Sandwich:
480 mg. (2) Small Turkey Slices
500 mg. (2) Bread Slices
70 mg. (1 TBS.) Sauces (mayo, mustard)
100 mg. (5) Pickle Slices
80 mg. (2/6 C.) Cheese
Grand total for ONE turkey sandwich: 1230 mg.
Yeah bread is a killer.
Next example, Low-fat bean and cheese quesadilla:
430 mg. (1) Flour Tortilla
180 mg. (1/3 C.) Cheese
115 mg. (4) Olives
510 mg. (1/2 C.) Canned Low Fat Re-fried Beans
Grand total for ONE quesadilla: 1235 mg.
Yeah, we have our work cut out for us.
Hopefully you're still reading because now I really want to know, what are we feeding our kids?
I looked at a few labels in my pantry:
One can of Tuna fish is 750 mg.
Add mayo and two slices of bread and you can see where this is going...
I could go on, but just start adding up your own labels and see for yourself.
We've found there are very few things with little or no sodium.
Rice, dried beans, fresh veggies and fruit.
What have you found with low or no sodium?
What's in your pantry and fridge?
Mine was slightly higher than normal. Explained away since I was stressing about our upcoming six-hour flight with a baby.
Commence scary music.
Ron's was really, really high.
We're talking 160s/100s instead of 120/80.
We're talking 160s/100s instead of 120/80.
HYPTERTENSION! STAGE 2; He has severly high blood pressure!
(Besides genetics) The culprit: salt/sodium
So Ron decides he won't add any extra salt to anything.
I tell him that's not good enough.
I say, "I don't want to go downstairs to your office one day because you didn't come up for lunch and find you hunched over in your chair from a stroke."
That might have been a little harsh.
But sometimes the truth hurts.
And sometimes the truth is hard to deal with.
High blood pressure kills.
It can also hurt your ateries and organs and you won't even notice.
One in Five people don't know they have high blood pressure.
So now we've turned into label natzis.
We have discovered some sad, sad truths about what we're eating.
In case you didn't know, canned food is PURE EVIL!!!
For reference, an adult can eat up to 2400 mg. of sodium per day. To lower blood pressure you're only supposed to eat 1500 mg. or less per day.
It's been difficult trying to cut out excess sodium.
For example, here's the sodium breakdown of a common lunch, a Turkey Sandwich:
480 mg. (2) Small Turkey Slices
500 mg. (2) Bread Slices
70 mg. (1 TBS.) Sauces (mayo, mustard)
100 mg. (5) Pickle Slices
80 mg. (2/6 C.) Cheese
Grand total for ONE turkey sandwich: 1230 mg.
Yeah bread is a killer.
Next example, Low-fat bean and cheese quesadilla:
430 mg. (1) Flour Tortilla
180 mg. (1/3 C.) Cheese
115 mg. (4) Olives
510 mg. (1/2 C.) Canned Low Fat Re-fried Beans
Grand total for ONE quesadilla: 1235 mg.
Yeah, we have our work cut out for us.
Hopefully you're still reading because now I really want to know, what are we feeding our kids?
I looked at a few labels in my pantry:
Campbells Chicken Noodle Soup
One can is 2225 mg. of sodium!!!One can of Tuna fish is 750 mg.
Add mayo and two slices of bread and you can see where this is going...
I could go on, but just start adding up your own labels and see for yourself.
We've found there are very few things with little or no sodium.
Rice, dried beans, fresh veggies and fruit.
What have you found with low or no sodium?
What's in your pantry and fridge?
Wow-that is really high blood pressure. Is he having headaches or tingling? That is scary! I hope you find something that works soon. Has he gone to see an actual doctor about this instead of just the health fair, because if not, he should. Good luck and keep us updated.
ReplyDeleteWow, scary! What a good wife you are for trying to help him with his diet changes.
ReplyDeleteBryce is dealing with high cholesterol, and diet hasn't been working so he had to start taking medication for it.
I have an appointment with a new Endocrinologist in 2 weeks. Hopefully he will find a solution within my current hormonal/medication mix for this. If not then I will probably be adding a new pill to the family.
ReplyDeleteI have been checking labels lately for sodium levels. I found the same thing you did... there isn't much out there with little or no sodium. Good luck! I hope all goes well with your Endocrinologist.
ReplyDeleteBrenley, did you ever have Bryce try taking fish oil pills? It's lowered both Ron's and my dad's cholesterol enough to avoid medication so far.
ReplyDeleteSince finding out about Amelia's food allergies, we make a lot of things from scratch. It takes longer, but I'm sure there's less sodium than anything pre-made. (Salt is a cheap preservative. Too bad it's yummy).
ReplyDeleteI guess a lot of meats are high in sodium.
I found a link for the mayo clinic that had lots of yummy looking low sodium recipes:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/low-sodium-recipes/RE00101
I'm sure you've already done a google search, but that's probably the cheapest, fastest way to get new low sodium recipes. Not tried, but maybe true?
I'm doing better. I'm consistently in the 140/90 range now.
ReplyDelete