A Grain of Salt
Being “sodium sensitive” means that your blood pressure rises in reaction to increased sodium intake. ”All people are, more or less, sodium sensitive. And there is no sharp break between those who are more sensitive and those who are less;’ says Dr. Kaplan. “It’s like height or any other biological phenomenon. It varies a great deal among individuals. Some people are exquisitely sensitive. If they touch salt, their blood pressure goes way up. For a few others, their intake hardly seems to matter.” About half of people with high blood pressure fit into the category of highly sodium sensitive. For many of these people, sodium restriction is definitely a good idea. Among those people who are not salt-sensitive, restricting salt too much-to less than half a teaspoon a day-also may raise their blood pressure. So if you happen to be hypertensive, what should you do?
Reducing Sodium
The best approach is to start by making sure that you get no more sodium than your body needs. The average American consumes about 4,000 milligrams of sodium each day. That’s quite a few shakes beyond the 2,400 milligrams that the National Academy of Sciences suggests as a maximum intake for just about everyone. A level teaspoon of salt contains about 2,400 milligrams of sodium, so if your current intake is 3,500 milligrams or less, you can get yourself to the adequate-intake zone by getting rid of about half a teaspoon of salt each day.