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Cook at Home • Aim for less than 2400 mg of sodium or salt per day – some may need to consider lowering it even further to around 1500 mg or less of salt per day. • Maintaining or reaching a healthy body weight can help lower your blood pressure. • Increase your exercise to at least 30 minutes on most days of the week. • Adopt a Mediterranean style eating pattern (like the D.A.S.H diet or “Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension”) which has been shown to help lower blood pressure. See http://oldwayspt.org for more information. • Reduce your alcohol intake to no more than 1 drink per day for women and 2 for men. • Take your medications as your doctor prescribed them. Low Down on Salt Sodium Whether or not you have a family history of high blood pressure, there are ways you can lower it through dietary and exercise changes • Roughly 75% of the Salt we consume on a daily basis is not coming from the salt shaker at the table; it is coming from processed foods, restaurants & fast food. • Here’s the reality (in case you don’t think you add that much salt to your food)— 1 tsp. of salt = 2,300 milligrams, which is an entire day’s worth of Salt. It adds up fast! • Salt is naturally present in foods like fresh meats, baked goods (bread and pastas), small amounts are found in fresh fruits & vegetables and many other foods. • Stock your pantry with low-sodium broths for soups. • Salt-free seasonings and herbs for flavoring meat/fish/poultry and vegetables. • Buy no-salt-added canned and frozen vegetables or rinse canned vegetables to help lower the salt content. • Choose whole-grains that are minimally processed and flavor them yourself with herbs, spices and salt-free seasonings. • Fill up on fruits and vegetables, especially fresh ones – they are naturally lower in salt and help fill you up for not many calories. • Choose low-fat dairy products that are lower in sodium – you should compare product labels to find the best one. • Gradually cut back on your salt intake and your taste buds will adjust over time. The Salty Reality Hypertension, or high blood pressure, can lead to serious health consequences including heart attack, heart disease, stroke, memory loss and even kidney failure. Reducing the amount of salt in your diet now can reduce your risk of develop- ing high blood pressure as well as these other conditions. If you have been told by your doctor that you have high blood pressure, then making a few positive changes to your current lifestyle can be a really powerful weapon against heart disease. On average, Americans consume around 3,400 mg of salt per day, which is more than double the amount the American Heart Association recommends. High Blood Pressure T A S T E T H E D I F F E R E N C E • H A R V E S T M A R K E T • • 140mg or less of sodium per serving is considered to be “Low-Sodium” according to federal guidelines. • 35mg or less sodium per serving is considered very low in sodium. • A label may say “healthy,” but that doesn’t mean it will be low in sodium. • Salt is often hidden in packaged foods • Limit your intake of cured foods/foods brined in salt. TIPS— Lowering Your Blood Pressure LOW SODIUM_BROCHURE Inside.pdf 1 10/17/16 9:35 AM
