Another mystery...or at least a "head shake"

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Anntann

Anntann

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Micheal's family history has a lot of high blood pressure..long lives, but HBP. And as long as I've known him he's been a HUGE red meat eater. AND he stresses out pretty easily. AND he bottles everything up because he doesn't want to worry me. AND he's put on some weight around his tummy the last few years...30lbs or so.

for years I've been worried about all that in regards to his health. He RARELY goes to the doctor, and only when he needs stitches or something "emergency" like. It was 6 years from his last physical. He FINALLY agreed to make a Dr appointment. Blood drawn, urine sample. Full thing. YIPEE!!!

I was certain we were going to need to go on a reduced fat diet, watch the cholesterol, etc. however...

Tests came back with not just normal levels of hdl/ldl/lipids whatever..but GOOD! And the blood pressure was 130/74 :boxed: This man eats meat, mainly BEEF with almost every meal! Very few veggies. Some fruit. Meat and potatoes and bread kind of guy. :roll: oh yah...and lots of cheese and ice cream and eggs.

I tell ya what...I'm just gonna give up trying to figure it out! where's my wine? :drunk:
 
The last time I went in for an annual exam, my BP was almost that high. The doc's assistant suggested that I reduce the sodium in my diet. I did, and a little over 2 weeks later when I went in for my follow-up, their eyes about popped out of their sockets. My BP was in the range of 115/80.

Take a serious look at reducing the amount of salt in his diet. Read ingredient labels and see how much salt/sodium is listed in the nutritional charts, and choose the ones with lower sodium values. Use the "no salt added" items when they're available. Take 2-3 bites of whatever food you're eating BEFORE adding any salt to it whatsoever. Drink water instead of soft drinks. It all adds up, and proves that the little things become a big thing if they're not tended to.
 
Whoa! What a difference a digit makes! :lol: Congrats to him on the great numbers!

I think a lot of it has to do with heredity, more than diet, to be honest. There is so much about the cholesterol stuff that they don't know. It drives me nuts because they talk about it like they know all this stuff, when they don't.

Even the disclaimers on the statin drugs say something to the effect of: "This drug lowers cholesterol levels, which might help prevent heart attacks. Then again, it might not. We think so, so it might be a good idea to take it."

Remember eggs were bad because of the cholesterol in them, then they found out that the cholesterol in the eggs doesn't really raise blood cholesterol levels, so suddenly eggs were okay again?

Butter was bad, so you'd better use margarine... then they found that many of the manipulated fats used in margarines were actually bad (or at least that's what they say), and butter is better, because it lowers the glycemic value of the foods you eat it with (butter on toast causes the toast to be broken down more slowly, resulting in a slower and lower rise in blood glucose levels)?

Salt is supposed to be evil, and causes high blood pressure. Except that there are new studies that show that for most people, there may be no relationship between salt and hypertension. http://www.medpagetoday.com/Cardiology/ ... sion/26258 Of coarse, there are those who are sensitive in one way or other to salt levels, like SatinsRule and my own mother (who has to keep her salt intake very low, but because of congestive heart failure, not hypertension). But it looks like the salt-hypertension link for the majority may not be a solid one, and I've suspected as much for a long time.

I don't know... I just know that they've reversed themselves so many times, I'm not sure whether to believe them when they make a pronouncement about something being "good" or "bad" or setting a certain acceptable level for something.
 
I have found, that using Sea salt lets me 'taste' what I desire, yet does not have the ill effects of Sodium Chloride ( regular table salt)

So, I have been using regular salt to cook with (per recipe) and Sea salt for sprinkling-- works out great for me-- BP is dropping back to normal levels-- But at the same time, since getting out of the Nursing Home, my fitness level is improving... and quite frankly, I think THAT is what is important...
 
Miss M, the point I was getting at is that there is so much sodium in processed foods these days, and the levels are ridiculously above what the average person needs. You buy a box of mac and cheese? The typical box has over 3000 mg in it. I'm a nut for Cajun Dirty Rice, but a box of it has over 4000 mg of sodium. One serving of each in a day puts you right at what doctors recommend for a daily intake (around 2300 is recommended). Anything above and beyond that and you're pushing exceeding that. Throw down on an order of fries or a bag of chips and you're overdoing it.

Another thing that many people are missing in their diets is fiber. One subtle change which can make all the difference in the world is to switch to a bread which has good fiber content (for me, that is Roman Meal or Wonder Wheat), and another is to use wheat noodles instead of white noodles. You'll never notice the difference in taste.

Like you, I've always been leary of the data which is regularly put out there on butter and margarine. I compensate for whatever shortcomings by looking for products which contain less in the form of saturated fat and also reduced sodium, again because you'll get what you need from other foods in the form of sodium

I guess the key to regulating salt or keeping it in check is to add very sparingly, or using a salt substitute (sea salt or Lite Salt) as there is already more of it in most foods than the average person needs anyway.
 
salt...I always know when I've had more than usual, ... I blow up like a balloon :lol: Feet swell almost immediately.

Possibly one of the things that saves Michael is that he eats VERY little processed foods. And DOES eat a lot of hot peppers and pepper sauces. LOVES the hot hot stuff. as well as Garlic. There seems to be quite a bit of research showing that both flush the system of undesirables. :shrug:

I'm just amazed at the low blood pressure.
 
SatinsRule, you are absolutely right about the levels of sodium in food! It's amazing how much is in processed foods. We found out when my mom started really having to limit her salt intake. We started reading labels on everything, and it was very discouraging.

It's nice that some companies are putting out low salt/no added salt versions of their products. I can get canned vegetables for storing that have no salt in them but what was naturally in the food, for instance. More spice blends are coming with salt-free options. Cabela's has some seasoning blends that are low-salt (you have to look at the nutrition facts to tell, though, because salt is still listed first -- it may have the highest percentage, but it has so much of the other seasonings in there, it ends up being low in salt).

We make most of our own stock and freeze it, and cook largely from scratch so we can control the salt levels.

For shaker salt, we use Himalayan crystal salt. Expensive stuff, but we use so little of it, it's affordable! One small shaker has lasted us over a year. Like the sea salt Terry uses, it has a different crystal structure from table salt, which supposedly makes it easier for the body to handle, while not causing the water retention and HBP problems table salt causes in some people. It also contains many trace elements the body needs.
 
SatinsRule":366uqvhi said:
Anntann":366uqvhi said:
And DOES eat a lot of hot peppers and pepper sauces. LOVES the hot hot stuff.
Click to expand...

Get some of this and sneak it into a recipe on him!

http://www.hotsauceworld.com/colblowarhot.html

I've tried it in the past. It aren't pretty!!!
Click to expand...

I want to try some of this: http://www.hotsauceworld.com/smacmyassand1.html

700,000 scoville units, or twice as hot as habenaro peppers. I'd saya the colon blow was around 300,000-400,000.

Michael
 
Michael, if it's worse than Colon Blow, I want no part of it.

Same thing for Dave's Insanity Sauce. I witnessed one brave soul who decided to show everyone how much of a man he was by going down the hatch with a teaspoon of it. His eyes were bulging and bloodshot the rest of the day, and I believe he drank more water in 5 hours than most people can consume in a week.
 
Congrats to him, and his great health check up! In todays day and age, that's awesome!
 

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