arts&life

eat right now

A Salty Life

Cut it down and

say goodbye to

hypertension.

Stacy Goldberg

Contributing Writer

C

orned beef, chicken soup, pickles.
ickles. It’s no secret
that Jews love food. Salty food.
od. We’re known
for decadent delicatessens and rich traditional
dinners.
But many of our favorite Jewish foods are outrageous-
ly high in sodium. On average, Americans consume over
3,400 mg of sodium per day. Unfortunately for us, high
levels of sodium in our food is unhealthy for our bodies,
especially as we age.
Hypertension is a common disease amongst many
Americans, with nearly 70 million adults having high
blood pressure, according to the Centers for Disease
Control. The Western Diet as we know it is filled with
excess sugar, calories and, oftentimes, sodium and
salt. While excess intake of sodium and salt can affect
overall health, particularly blood pressure, reducing
salt intake is not the only method for preventing high
blood pressure.

Over time, if blood pressure remains
high, damage may occur to your heart,
raising the risk for heart disease.

What is hypertension?
Blood pressure is the force of blood pushing against
the walls of your arteries. Arteries carry blood from the
heart to other parts of the body. Blood pressure natu-
rally rises and falls throughout the day. Hypertension
occurs when your kidneys work to reabsorb water. The
reabsorption of water increases the amount of water
in the blood, increasing the amount of volume being
pumped through the veins and arteries.
Often, when you eat a meal with a large amount of
sodium or salt, the kidneys will try to balance by reab-
sorbing water (and then increasing blood pressure). In a
healthy heart, blood flows easily through the vessels and
pumps at a normal rate. However, when blood pressure
is high, it is much harder for blood to flow and the heart
pumps harder and harder. Over time, if blood pressure
remains high, damage may occur to your heart, poten-
tially raising the risk for heart disease.
Hypertension can be linked to age, ethnicity, fam-
ily history and diet (specifically salt/sodium intake).
However, studies have shown a significant increase
for those who work stressful jobs. Exposure to high

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April 20 • 2017

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STA
STACY’S
SWAPS
SWA

job strain, which is a combination of high psychologi-
cal demands and low job control, is one of the major
factors that influences blood pressure for the working
American.
A
i
How can hypertension be prevented?
There are several dietary and lifestyle approaches
aimed at decreasing the risk of hypertension. One
of these approaches is The DASH Diet: Dietary
Approaches to Stop Hypertension.
The DASH diet includes:
■ Weight loss and increasing exercise
■ Eating fruits, vegetables and whole grains
■ Including low-fat dairy products, fish, poultry,
beans, nuts and vegetable oils in your diet
■ Limiting foods that are high in saturated fat, such as
fatty meats, full-fat dairy products and tropical oils such
as coconut, palm kernel and palm oils (some of these
can be healthful, but in moderation)
■ Limiting sugar-sweetened beverages and sweets
■ The biggest challenge for most: limiting sodium
intake to 2,300 mg/day (or 1,500mg/day for a more ben-
eficial effect)

HOW MUCH SODIUM SHOULD YOU
REALLY CONSUME PER DAY?

The American Heart Association recommends no more
than 2,300 mg a day and an ideal limit of no more than
1,500 mg per day for most adults. They further state
that, because the average American’s sodium intake is
so excessive, even cutting back to no more than 2,400
mg a day will significantly improve blood pressure and
heart health.
Here are the approximate amounts of sodium in a
given amount of table salt:
½ tsp. salt = 1,150 mg sodium
1 tsp. salt = 2,300 mg sodium
Living a healthy Jewish life can include delicious food.
The bottom line is to dig deep into what we consume on
a regular basis, then exercise balance and portion con-
trol. Take the time to read nutrition labels for sodium
and become a sodium detective! If you are choosing the
Reuben sandwich, skip the pickle and the cheese. If you
are choosing the brisket, skip the chicken soup. Make
healthful choices that will help you to live a long and
prosperous life. •

Stacy Goldberg is a nationally recognized nutritional consul-
tant, registered nurse and the CEO of Savorfull (savorfull.com),
a Detroit-based company that sources healthy, allergen-friendly
foods and provides nutrition-consulting. Savorfull is part of the
Quicken Loans Family of Companies.

In the A
American food
industry, many packaged
industr
products found in the gro-
produc
cery store
sto are loaded with
sneaky
k salt additives. Salt is
used as a preservative and
flavoring for many foods,
even desserts and sweets. It
is important to be aware of
sodium in foods and read-
ing food labels can help
you to make better choices.
Cereals should contain
no more than 250 mg of
sodium per serving, but
most common brands have
far more than that. One
cup of Grape Nuts cereal
has approximately 580 mg
of sodium.
Bagels may not taste
very salty, but can have up
to 500-700 mg of sodium,
depending on size and fla-
vor — and we haven’t even
added the shmear of cream
cheese yet. Oy!
Nuts are an amazing
snack in moderation, but
watch the salt. Salted nuts
can contain hundreds of
milligrams of sodium in
just one serving. Add your
own salt to unsalted nuts if
you must have some, and
do so sparingly.
Asian-inspired dishes
and sushi can be a health-
ful choice; however, they
are often drenched in soy
sauce and other high-
sodium stir fry sauces. By
switching to low-sodium
soy sauce, you can save
70 mg of sodium per tea-
spoon. Try using coconut
aminos as a soy-sauce
alternative to save even
more sodium, and still gain
the Asian flavor. •

