Hypertension guide

Hypertension is a condition which should not be taken for granted. This could result to severe cardiovascular diseases which could be fatal. For people who are not yet suffering from this health concern, you can prevent any incidence of hypertension by simply living a healthy lifestyle - meaning good diet, exercise, rest and less stress.

A frequent elevated blood pressure can eventually lead to hypertension. The recommended good level should not go beyond 120/80 - 120 mg for the systolic pressure and 80 mg for the diastolic. You will be hypertensive when the measure goes beyond 140/90. Anything between this and 120/80 is pre-hypertension. People who desire to maintain their blood pressure at the normal level should decrease their salt consumption. There had been recommendations for the use of salt - sea or table. Is sea salt really better than the normal table variant in keeping the blood pressure at relatively normal level?

Hypertension and salt

Hypertension is caused by too high level of salt in your bloodstream. Because of the excess salt, the proteins that remove the sodium in the blood vessel walls are shut down. The sodium will then begin to thicken in the arterial walls resulting to contractions in these walls. This leads to an increase in blood pressure - regardless of whether the sodium comes from sea or table sodium chloride. Thus it does not matter anymore where your excess sodium comes from - just reduce your sodium consumption and your blood vessels will surely be grateful.

Sea and table salt - a comparison

What we normally have in the kitchen is table salt. Like any other mineral, this is mined from the earth. Having been retrieved from underground deposits, this is heavily processed to remove the minerals and trace elements, leaving only sodium and chloride. Iodine and anti-clumping agents are added in the process.

Sea salt comes from evaporated sea water. This is unprocessed so that it may retain its grayish tint. It also has less iodine content. Compared to the table salt, the granules are bigger - all due to its unrefined nature. Sea salt contains sodium and chloride minerals making it chemically identical to ordinary table salt. This gives the impression that sea salt is not better for hypertensive people.

Sea and table salt - the difference

These two kinds of salt undergo different kinds of processing. Table salt is mined underground where miners cut and blast pieces from the salt walls. The lumps are sent out to undergo processing. In the refining process, sodium chloride is retained while the other trace minerals are removed. Sea salt is produced by evaporating ocean or sea water. During the evaporation process the natural salt remains in the form of crystals, retaining the sodium chloride and other trace minerals.

Because of the processing, the table variant is whiter in appearance and the crystals are almost uniform in shape and size. On the contrary, sea salt granules have bigger size and irregular shape. The color is grayish, sometimes brownish. Some describe the sea salt as more flavorful. Sea salt is more expensive than table salt and is not readily available in all supermarkets.

A hypertensive person then does not have to go around looking for sea salt. The table salt can be used provided he adheres to the guideline on daily recommended salt intake. As much as possible, keep your sodium intake to a maximum of 1 teaspoon of sea or table salt. Less salt in your diet means healthier arterial walls. Couple this will good diet, exercise, rest and less stress for a normal blood pressure level.

Felicitas Ramos is writing articles as a hobby and she writes on different niches, especially health. She has a history of hypertension and is under preventive maintenance. Read more on health issues by visiting her site Health And Fitness Today.

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