Nutrition and Health Nugget for Blood Pressure

The Habit-My husband and I prefer having fresh beetroot and carrot juice twice a week.

The Recipe- Take a medium size beetroot. Cut it into half. Take one half beetroot and 4 baby carrots. Blend it in a blender. Add some water. Liquefy it. Sieve and get the fresh juice out. Keep the residue for adding it in some recipe. Don't throw. It has Important fiber still left. Water though dilutes the nutrition but too much concentration of these nutrients can also be a problem. Go slow and go safe.

The Nutrition-What goes in are rich vitamin and mineral content-vitamins A, B-1, B-2, B-6 and C, as well as folic acid, manganese, potassium, calcium, iron and fiber along with the benefits from carrots too.(Not to forget carrots add a bit of sweet taste too.) No additional sweetener required.

The Health-One of the biggest benefits that studies have shown is the effect of beetroot on the Blood Pressure.

What is Blood Pressure-In a layman's language it is the high force of the blood flow against the artery walls.

While 120/80 is the normal and ideal range, when these limits move beyond, it becomes a matter of concern. A Prehypertension range is: 120-139 over 80-89. Beyond this one is diagnosed for having a high blood pressure.

Among many triggers/causes, research has shown that the amount of sodium intake is one of the important causes for having a high Blood Pressure.

Therefore, one of the significant factors that needs to be controlled is the sodium intake and keeping it below 1500 mg per day. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommends that individuals consume no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day, and that certain groups limit intake to 1,500 milligrams per day. http://healthyeating.sfgate.com/fda-recommended-sodium-intake-1873.html

That pretty much means that it's not only the salt shaker we should control but also the sodium content in lots of packaged and canned food that we buy. Restaurant foods are the highest in sodium content and hence restaurants should not be a regular affair. Indo-Chinese foods-ranging from noodles to soups are the big devils. Soya sauce one of the key ingredients of Indo-Chinese food is pretty high in sodium content (1 tsp contains 560mg of sodium). Keep your restaurant trips limited.

The chicken fries, French fries, buffalo wings dipped in variety of sauces or those pakoras(fritters), samosas, chaats,paani puris are food very high in sodium content. There are various salad dressings which are very high in sodium and hence should be avoided. Use herbs and spices to add flavor to your food rather than just relying on salt or salt related products. The point is-keep outside food, packaged food, processed foods to a limit.

It's recommended that one should always check the sodium level (found in the nutritional table printed on every product). Keeping the 1500 mg/day in mind, one can make decisions what to buy and what not to buy.

Walking the talk- Every time I go for grocery shopping, I look for food that contain 140 milligrams of sodium or less in each serving. These are considered low-sodium foods. A food that has a sodium concentration of 5 milligrams or less per serving can be labelled a sodium-free food. For more information, do check out the FDA’s label reading tips for determining the sodium levels in your favorite products. Therefore, make a healthy choice.

Why talk of Beetroot here?

Because studies have shown that there is an inverse relationship between potassium found in beetroots and sodium that you can utilize, as a way to reduce the sodium in your body. An increased potassium level in the blood reduces the sodium level. Through the consumption of potassium-rich foods you can help eliminate some of the excess sodium from your body.

Other potassium rich foods are -All kinds of dark leafy vegetables, yogurt, bananas, beans and legumes.

That is just one factor that we looked at-Sodium-Blood Pressure-Beetroot.

Maintaining a safe blood pressure limits, maintaining sound health is a matter of health conscious diet, healthy lifestyle habit and not to forget the big E-EXERCISE.

_{Disclaimer-The aim of this article is not to provide/suggest any medical advice, diagnosis or any kind or treatment.}

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