Obesity and Hypertension - Are You Living With a Silent Killer? Part II

As we have learn in part I of this article, hypertension is defined as a systolic blood pressure reading of over 140/90.
  The ideal pressure level should be 120/80.
Hypertension is known as the silent killer, because there are usually no symptoms associated with this deadly disease!  Many people are living with hypertension and do not even know it until there is a massive stroke or heart attack that can kill.
If you're over the ages of 25 then it's a good idea to get your blood pressure checked to ensure that you are within the safe range which is about 120/80.
  If your pressure level is above this then you could be at risk for a stroke or a massive heart attack.
Blood pressure levels in the greatest risk is anything above 140/90.
High normal blood is 130 to 139/85 to 89.
Some increased risk of high pressure is 122 and 1 29/80 to 84.
Optimal blood pressure level is below 120/80.
Most of the cases of hypertension are due to too much salt intake in the diet.
  It is estimated that if 13 million North America's with mild hypertension should cut their salt intake by just 1 teaspoon a day they, could normalize their blood pressure within four weeks.
  So there is hope if you suffer from hypertension.
  This is a very easy disease to reverse and cure.
So what can we do to protect ourselves from this silent killer?  Well the first thing I would recommend is to become label reader.
  By carefully reading labels, you can select products you know are low in sodium.
  Look out on the label for words such as salt, sodium, and soda.
  Avoid any products in which these terms are listed among the first five ingredients.
Our bodies really only need less than a quarter of a teaspoon of salt at a day, about 1.
5g, but most of us eat 2 to 4 teaspoons full or 10 to 20 grams everyday.
  So the first step in reducing your salt intake is to get rid of the salt shaker.
  But this is not enough as most of all salt comes from the food we eat and not the salt shaker.
Lets look at how much salt is in the everyday foods we eat, bare in mind that 1000mg = to 1g.
Potato chips - 7 ounces contains 3000mg of salt, miniature made rice 1 cup has 1000mg of salt, Wheaties 2oz has 1850mg and KFC 3 piece meal has over 5600mg of salt.
Now do you see how much salt we consume? Some quick ways in which we can reduce our blood pressure is by eating lots of fresh, raw foods, both fruits and vegetable.
  Fresh fruits and vegetables also increases the potassium stores in our body which helps lower blood pressure naturally.
  If you're going to eat snacks always look for unsalted, trust me your taste buds will adjust to the new taste within a few days.
  Learn to flavor foods with lemon juice fresh herbs and seasoning such as parsley, basil, tarragon, Rosemarie, garlic and onions.
The more flavorful your food is prepared, the less you will need salt.