Salt is Not the Spice of Life’s Blog

You are just going about your day to day life probably thinking “this could never happen to me”! Well, guess what? Heart disease doesn’t discriminate. Heart disease doesn’t care if you are male or female, black, white, or rainbow colored, it doesn’t care how old or young you are, if you are homeless or the CEO of the most successful company. It will still kill one American every 33 seconds!

Heart Disease is the #1 KILLER of men and women here in America! But there’s good news…. There are steps, actions and changes in your everyday lifestyles that can help prevent heart disease. Or if you already have it, may even help the quality of your life.

This page is dedicated to Heart Healthy Tips. I must put the disclaimer on here that I am NOT a medical doctor. I will not offer any medical advice as to how to treat your heart disease, you need to consult your cardiologist for that. (And if you don’t have one, I have a kick-ass doctor I can refer you to!!) Any tips I post will be referenced to the medical source I have gathered it from.

Tip #1:
The average American diet consumes over 8,000 mg of sodium. Per the American Heart Association, you shouldn’t consume more than 2,000 mg. Bread is one of the biggest culprits of hidden sodium. Try tracking your sodium for one meal. You’ll be surprised. Eat as many foods fresh as you can, not frozen and not processed and you’ll start to cut back on your sodium, and lead you on the path to preventing heart disease.

Tip #2:
The Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition that eight out of ten leading causes of death in the United States have a nurtition or alchohol component. At the top of that list is heart disease! Not paying attention to the foods you put into your body can significantly increase your risk for heart disease (among other diseases as well…). Again, I challenge you to now take a day and track everything you eat. See how much sodium you are injesting. There are ways to cut the salt, without cutting the taste!!

Tip#3:
Any idea what the #10 means??? It’s the number of years you may slow biological aging if you walk vigorously for about an hour a day five times a week. (Source: Heart Healthy Living Magazine)

Tip #4:
Women who quit smoking have a 47% lower risk of dying from coronary heart disease within 5 years of extinguishing their last cigarette. (Journal of the American Medical Association, May 2008)

Tip #5:
Salt is not the spice of life!! “90% of people in the US eventually get high blood pressure. One of the driving forces of this is long term exposure to sodium.” -Stven Havas, M.D. (Heart Healty Mag, Winter 2008) Cut out as much salt from your cooking as you can. There are other spices that will enhance the flavor of you food.
                        – 1 gram of sodium will retain 1 pound of water
                        – your body does not make salt, you ingest it
                        – 1/4 teaspoon of salt = 250-500 mg sodium
                        – 1/2 teaspoon of salt = 1500 mg sodium
                        – 1 teaspoon of salt = 2300 mg of sodium
                        – 1 tablespoon of salt = 4,000-6,000 mg of sodium
And remember – the AHA recommends less than 2,000 mg of sodium a day. If you have heart disease then consult your cardiologist for your recommended allowance, it could be lower. I know mine is!

Tip #6:
A new research study by the AHA show that people without the risk factors have lower health care costs and are far less likely to develop cardiovascular disease. Less than 10% of Americans have a low risk of heart disease. Pay attention to the risk factors!!!!