Archive for the ‘salt & sodium’ Category

Binge Drinking and High Blood Pressure Harm Your Heart

Tuesday, August 24th, 2010

Binge drinking doesn’t mean a drink or two, more like ten or twenty – not exactly “drinking socially.” And not exactly the safest for your health; consuming copious amounts of booze at one sitting has been linked to alcohol poisoning, memory problems, anxiety, bladder ruptures, and even sudden death.

And a new study in the journal Stroke says binge drinking, in combination with high blood pressure, may also heighten the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke.

High blood pressure by itself is already associated with heart disease and stroke.

The research followed 6,100 South Koreans age 55 and up for two decades; teetotalers with normal blood pressure and men with high blood pressure who occasionally consume more than six drinks in one sitting.

Results found the binge drinkers had double the risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke. But the heaviest drinkers, people downing 12 or more drinks at one time, had nearly five times the risk of heart trouble. And the risk jumped to 12-fold if the extreme drinkers had severe high blood pressure.

The American Heart Association defines normal blood pressure as 120/80 mmHG or below. High blood pressure is classified as 140/90 mmHG and over. And severe high blood pressure is considered 168/110 mmHG or higher.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is typically treated with improved diet – especially reducing salt and saturated fat intake – exercise, and medication.

Image credit: chrismetcalf

Posted in Nutrition & Health, drugs & alcohol, heart disease, high blood pressure, salt & sodium, saturated fats, stress & anxiety, stroke | No Comments »

Sugar Linked to High Blood Pressure Too

Monday, July 12th, 2010

Eat a diet of fried bacon, canned Spam, potato chips, and pork rinds, and odds are you’re going to get a touch of heart disease.

Salt has long been associated with hypertension, stroke, and cardiovascular disease, and also stomach cancer and osteoporosis.

But now sugar – mostly known for making you fat and rotting your teeth – is being linked to high blood pressure too.

Published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, experts found people consuming more than the average amount – approximately 2.5 cans of soda – of sugar each day had higher blood pressure than people who ate less.

Consuming too much fructose increased the likelihood of having blood pressure above 140/90 mmHg by 30% and 160/100 mmHg by 77%. Blood pressure over 140/90 is considered high.

But the study is not a precise indictment of sugar. Scientists admit that data on the participants’ diet was not accurate because participants were asked to describe their diets based on memory, which could have included additional fructose consumption.

Even still, sugar is not health-promoting, especially high fructose corn syrup, which has been linked to obesity. Obesity is a well established factor in the development of heart disease, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure.

Image credit: dhammza

Posted in Nutrition & Health, heart disease, high blood pressure, high fructose corn syrup, salt & sodium, sugar | No Comments »

UK Officials Looking to Ban Trans-Fat and Salt

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Trans-fat is hydrogenated vegetable oil, used to extend the self-life of processed foods, like snack cakes and potato chips, but trans-fat is not natural, its produced in laboratories, so as such our bodies have difficulty processing it.

Studies have shown trans-fat raises the risk of cardiovascular disease, so bans on trans-fat have been popping up all over. New York City banned trans-fat from restaurants in 2006.

And the United Kingdom is looking to move in that direction too. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) seeks to impose stricter regulations on both trans-fat and salt; many process foods contain exorbitant amounts of sodium, such as frozen dinners and canned goods.

Salt has been linked to heart disease, high blood pressure, gastric ulcers, heart burn, osteoporosis, and stomach cancer.

Officials say nearly 40,000 premature deaths and $40 billion in medical costs could be prevented each year in Great Britain alone if trans-fat is banned from food. NICE cites the health benefits of similar bans and restrictions on salt in places like the United States and Japan..

NICE claims that measures to reduce salt and trans-fat will begin to yield public health benefits in as little as 2 to 3 years.

Image credit: PSU

Posted in Nutrition & Health, heart disease, heartburn, high blood pressure, junk food, osteoporosis, salt & sodium, stomach cancer, trans-fat, ulcers | No Comments »

Salt Raises Stomach Cancer Risk

Tuesday, March 30th, 2010

Salty food – typical of Asian cuisine – may increase likelihood of stomach cancer by 10%; a Korean study has determined.

Stomach cancer is very common in Korea, but less common in Western nations, such as the United States.

Writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers examined data on 9,620 men and 2,773 women and found those who ate saltier diets had a 10% higher risk of developing gastric cancer.

But harmful effects of salt vary. Table salt has been shown to promote heart disease, while salted foods are more likely to lead to cancer.

Salt is a tough addiction to kick.

Everyone loves Chinese food. Too bad it’s loaded with salt, but try and wrangle the General Tso’s chicken out of a college student’s hands.

Image credit: Nutrex Solutions

Posted in Nutrition & Health, cancer, salt & sodium, stomach cancer | No Comments »

Snacking Could Lead to “Constant Eating” in Kids

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

SNKSSnacks and junk food are everywhere, even hardware stores and pet shops have candy and salty snacks up by the cash registers.

So now experts think all this easy access to food and snacking could spur “constant eating” in young children.

Writing in the journal Health Affairs, researchers claim 27% of calories that American kids eat come from snacks; mostly salty foods, candy, desserts, and sweetened beverages.

The scientists say children’s caloric intake has increased by 113 calories per day from 1977 and 2006 – basically a can of soda.

All this snacking may lead to constant eating, which refers to the “physiological basis” for eating is becoming upset and kids confusing when to and when not to eat.

This compulsion, coupled with inactivity, will continue to fuel rising obesity rates. So U.S. health officials have urged food producers to improve the nutritional quality of their products.

And parents to become better educated about nutrition and to encourage their kids to exercise more.

Via Reuters.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Posted in Nutrition & Health, junk food, salt & sodium, sugar, teenagers & children | No Comments »

Cutting Salt Could Save the U.S. Billions

Sunday, January 31st, 2010

CASHIronically, salt is put into a lot of food to increase self life by decreasing spoilage, which reduces waste, and saves money.

But cutting salt out of Americans’ diets could save $24 billion in healthcare costs each year.

It boils down to preventing heart disease.

Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers found that removing just three grams of salt per day would lower the number of heart disease cases in the U.S. by 11%.

When you break it down, results show heart attacks will be cut by 13%, stroke 8%, and the number of deaths by 4%.

The problem is a lot of this salt is being consumed as additives to food, not from the salt shaker, so food producers need to make the biggest changes.

Via Food Navigator.

Image credit: cas.uchicago.edu

Posted in Nutrition & Health, salt & sodium | No Comments »

Salted Fish May Raise Cancer Risk

Thursday, January 28th, 2010

SALTSpreading caviar on fancy crackers might come back to haunt you.

Writing in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, experts found salted foods have an impact on cancer risk.

Among the 77,500 Japanese men and women studied—ages 45 to 74—4,476 cases of cancer were diagnosed; mostly gastric and colorectal cancer.

Oddly, salt itself was not associated with cancer risk, but rather salted foods, like fish roe (caviar).

Researchers say heavy consumption of dried or salted fish was linked to a higher risk of gastric and colorectal cancer.

This may be caused by the build up of carcinogens in salty found due to nitrates or nitrite preservatives.

Via Food Navigator.

Image credit: The Telegraph.

Posted in Nutrition & Health, salt & sodium, seafood & fish, toxins | No Comments »

U.S. Seeking to Ban Some Junk Food Ads

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

CANDYThree U.S. agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Centers for Disease Control are looking to ban junk food marketing targeted to children.

The proposal is aimed at foods with more than 1 gram of saturated fat or more than half a gram of trans fat per serving, 13 grams of added sugar, or 200 milligrams of sodium.

A spokesperson for the group says U.S. government agencies need to do a better job regulating marketing seen by children, and the proposed ban would simply “supervise” food producers.

Some food producers have already reworked their products to take health concerns into account, such as Froot Loops and Cocoa Puffs, which both started to reduce the amount of sugar in foods advertised to children.

But not everyone thinks it’s a good idea. The Association of National Advertisers insists advertisers are not responsible for the increasing number of overweight and obese children. So marketers feel as if they are being punished and being censored.

Via Reuters.

Image credit: Integral Elementary

Posted in Nutrition & Health, children, junk food, salt & sodium, saturated fats, sugar, trans-fat | 1 Comment »