A salty diet over time pushes blood pressure up. Knowing the recommended salt limit and a few tips for seasoning less helps protect your family's hearts.
Why salty food raises blood pressure
Many studies have shown that salt and blood pressure are closely linked. When you eat too much salt, the sodium level in your blood rises. To keep things in balance, the body holds on to extra water. More water means more blood flowing through the blood vessels, which puts pressure on the artery walls and pushes blood pressure up.
So if you want to keep your heart healthy and avoid complications later on, paying attention to how much salt you eat each day is the first thing to do.
Benefits of eating less salt
Eating less salty food helps keep blood pressure from swinging up and down, and over the long term the body gains many other benefits:
- The vessel walls are under less strain, which helps limit hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis) and keeps the arteries elastic.
- The kidneys work less hard, as they no longer have to struggle to clear excess sodium.
- Stable blood pressure helps lower the risk of stroke, heart failure and other cardiovascular events.
Recommended daily salt intake
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that healthy adults eat less than 5 g of salt a day, roughly one level teaspoon. This figure covers salt from all sources: table salt, seasoning powder, fish sauce, soy sauce and the salt already present in food.
From middle age onward, or if you already have risk factors for heart disease, you should have your blood pressure measured regularly so that any problem is found early. Anyone who already has high blood pressure needs to take medication exactly as the doctor prescribes, while also adjusting meals and cutting salt according to advice tailored to their own condition.
Tips for cutting salt without losing flavor
The eating habits of most Vietnamese people today mean that salt intake is about twice the recommended level, mostly from seasoning added during cooking and from dipping sauces. A few ways to cut back on salt naturally:
- Cut back little by little. Your tongue needs about 2 to 4 weeks to get used to a new level of saltiness. Each week, use about 10 - 20% less seasoning than usual, whether salt, fish sauce or seasoning powder. Going step by step like this, your sense of taste adapts gradually and food does not seem bland or put you off eating.
- Turn to natural flavorings. Instead of adding lots of salty seasonings, make dishes more flavorful with shallots, garlic, ginger, pepper, chili, lime or fresh herbs, betel leaves (la lot) and celery. Aromas along with sour and spicy notes wake up the taste buds, so food still tastes good with less salt.
- Choose fresh ingredients and cook at home. Sausages, cold cuts, canned food and pickled vegetables often contain a lot of "hidden sodium". Using fresh ingredients lets you control how much seasoning goes into the pot.
- Add potassium-rich foods. Potassium helps the body get rid of excess salt through the urine and helps the vessel walls relax. You can find potassium in bananas, avocados, watermelon, green vegetables and nuts.
Because dipping sauce is a major source of salt, you can start with the sauce bowl on the dinner table: pour a little less and mix it a bit weaker. Small changes made consistently every day will make a difference.
Trusted clinic for high blood pressure in Ho Chi Minh City
Ky Hoa Medical Center has nearly 20 years of experience in medical care in Ho Chi Minh City, with a team of highly qualified doctors and a careful, transparent way of working. For high blood pressure, our Internal Medicine doctors take time to listen, examine carefully and explain clearly so that you fully understand your condition, then agree together on a treatment and follow-up plan.
The center operates under Operating License No. 00449/HCM-GPHĐ, with a list of medical techniques approved by the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health (Decision 471/QĐ-SYT), and is a primary care facility contracted with Ho Chi Minh City Social Security, accepting health insurance (BHYT) visits on Saturdays as well. The practising certificates of our 24 doctors are published on our Doctors page.
If it has been a while since your blood pressure was last measured, or your readings at home are often high, you can come to Ky Hoa Medical Center, where an Internal Medicine doctor will check you and advise you on a suitable diet. Simply walk in during opening hours and take a queue number.
Ky Hoa Medical Center
Address: 266A - 268 3 Thang 2 Street, Hoa Hung Ward, Ho Chi Minh City
Opening hours: Monday to Saturday, 6:30 - 11:30 and 13:00 - 17:00 (closed on Sunday)
Hotline: 028.3868.1097
Source: Suc Khoe & Doi Song (Health & Life) newspaper