Eat something salty and chill

[JaneV2.0]

A thought-provoking study involving rodents:

http://www.thatsfit.ca/2011/05/06/sa...stress-levels/

"The researchers examined brain and blood samples from the rats and found the same hormones that act on kidneys to compensate for dehydration also act on the brain to regulate response to stress and social anxiety. The elevated salt levels suppressed the release of the pro-stress hormone angiotensin II and increased the anti-stress hormone oxytocin (often referred to as the "cuddle hormone" since it results in warm fuzzy feelings and increased social bonding).

Krause also says (of the rats given sodium chloride): "Their blood pressure and heart rate did not go up as much in response to stress as the control group's and they returned to resting levels more quickly." You read that right -- salt prevented blood pressure from rising in response to stress."

[catherine]

I read about that study and had to laugh. Another example of "butter's bad for you.. Wait! It's margarine that's bad for you." And I admit, I'm on my husband's case all the time because he dumps the equivalent of the Dead Sea on everything he cooks and eats. Interestingly, he's suffers from alcohol and tobacco addiction, so maybe his brain is crying out for those "feel good" hormones in any way it can.

[lhamo]

Yeah, add this to that European study that came out last week that showed no demonstrable connection between salt consumption and the development of high blood pressure/heart disease in normally healthy adults.

Just because you think something is related to something else doesn't make it so. Do the science, folks. Quit running people ragged (and in the wrong direction) with your theories about nutrition.....

lhamo

[Gardenarian]

That's interesting. I have low blood pressure, and my doctors have told me to eat lots of salt. I guess their theory is that "if it's bad for high blood pressure, then it's good for low blood pressure."
Eating lots of salt has no effect on my blood pressure at all, it stays right at 80/50.

All this nutrition stuff seems so important, and then it turns out it's all wrong. Should we just ignore all the food news?

[Anne Lee]

Gardenaria, I pretty much ignore all the food news. Everything I need to know about nutrition, I pretty much learned by the 2nd grade. Don't snack, it will ruin your appetite. Sweets are a treat; if you eat them too often they won't be special anymore. Eat your vegetables. About the only thing not covered is to eat food as minimally prepared as possible. Oh, that and the benefits of red wine.

[puglogic]

I see the value of studies like this.

I also can tell you that consumption of a super-salty or meal or two during the day not only elevates my blood pressure that day, but is almost guaranteed to wake me in a panic attack in the middle of the night. I have terrific sodium intolerance, which seems to have come to me with perimenopause. As if the wrinkles weren't enough...

My brother takes blood pressure medication so that he can continue to eat as much salt as he wants. When he went low-sodium for six months, his blood pressure plunged. He just hated it, and prefers taking meds to tasteless food. There's a lot of science behind the claim that, for some people, a high-salt diet damages their health.

Sodium is not Satan. But everyone's mileage varies in terms of how their bodies handle it. Listen to your own body, be your own science experiment, and live accordingly. No extra salt for me, thanks. But red meat, red wine, dark chocolate, fresh eggs? Bring it on.

[JaneV2.0]

I've read that among people whose blood pressure trends high, 25% are salt-sensitive, and that in the general population, it's about 10%. As puglogic says, learning how your body responds to food, exercise, stress, etc. is crucial.

Speaking of which, I just read an article in Psychology Today describing studies that showed marathon runners had a greater chance of suffering heart attacks and other damage than the more sedentary control group--like three times greater. I'm not surprised, really.

[ApatheticNoMore]

I also can tell you that consumption of a super-salty or meal or two during the day not only elevates my blood pressure that day, but is almost guaranteed to wake me in a panic attack in the middle of the night.

I've experienced this but only with restaurant food (and even then not with all restaurant food. But yea the super salty stuff). Crazy, crazy thirst after consuming it and then anxiety at night (not a full blown panic attack, but fear and anxiety ... definitely caused by the food.).

It might be the intense load of salt, in might be the MSG. All I know is that for me this never happens with the food I make even if I salt it to my pleasure and so I generally do .

Sodium is not Satan. But everyone's mileage varies in terms of how their bodies handle it. Listen to your own body, be your own science experiment, and live accordingly. No extra salt for me, thanks. But red meat, red wine, dark chocolate, fresh eggs? Bring it on.

I definitely agree with listening to your body. Haha, listening to my body I think that list would bug me more than the salt, fairy inflammatory and irritating foods there, at least for me (do eat red meat sometimes).

[ApatheticNoMore]

Gardenaria, I pretty much ignore all the food news. Everything I need to know about nutrition, I pretty much learned by the 2nd grade. Don't snack, it will ruin your appetite. Sweets are a treat; if you eat them too often they won't be special anymore. Eat your vegetables. About the only thing not covered is to eat food as minimally prepared as possible. Oh, that and the benefits of red wine.

The problem is most of the stuff sold in the supermarket is basically toxic IMO. Ok, maybe overstated, but I don't even mean pesticides on fruits and vegetables or anything. Yes there is that, but I mean just about every processed food sold contains weird stuff. Even canned veggies, even bread! Weird chemicals that aren't at all food. Maybe I'll go with Micheal Pollan and call it NON food rather than toxic but ....

And that's just all the obvious weirdness in the ingredient list, that's not even opening up the flood gates of pesticides (some worse than others), or GMOS, or factory farms, or irradiated food, or dyed food, or orange juice that we buy that actually has flavoring added to it to give it back the flavor it loses in storage (should just squeeze a fresh orange instead), or who knows what that may be sprayed on packaged salads etc. etc.

Mostly I believe:
1) Eat real food, as real as possible (see above for how much fake food there is out there)
2) After you are eating something resembling actual food, listen to your body. If you always get congested, or sore joints, or have ahem digestive problems, or get crazy cravings, or just feel drained or mentally off after eating certain foods, etc. etc. that's your clue (these things are seldom subtle!). Your body might not like even some real foods, because even if they might be perfectly healthy foods for someone else, they might not be for your biochemistry. Maybe you'll be one of those who can eat anything real, and maybe you'll have some foods that don't agree with you.
3) I do think it can be hard for many to get enough nutrients on really extreme diets like strict veganism, but with diets that contain a good mix of both animal and plant foods there is probably some degree of biochemical uniqueness is what particular foods best agree with us.

I don't tend to see sweets as a treat because that's just a way to crave them even more IMO. Mostly I see the real foods I eat as more than satisfying, and I don't even crave sweets most of the time anymore. And well sometimes I do, and I'll get the sweet.

Speaking of which, I just read an article in Psychology Today describing studies that showed marathon runners had a greater chance of suffering heart attacks and other damage than the more sedentary control group--like three times greater. I'm not surprised, really.

Oh I believe that. I've always heard excessive exercise is bad (produces lots of oxidative damage, free radicals etc..) Of course where exactly the line is between excessive exercise and not enough ... I don't know. But that crazy stuff like marathons might fall in the excessive category sure Marathons are also always run by crazy type A people (haha, ok that's my prejudice but it does seem to be the case among people I know )

[Jemima]

I've been taking blood pressure meds for over ten years and have routinely been told to watch my salt intake. This past winter, I had a lung infection that made salty foods and some others almost unbearable and weird-tasting, and thereafter I was able to cut back considerably on my salt intake. So I just had a routine blood test prior to my annual physical and now have been told that my sodium level is slightly too low and to use more salt. WTF???

Stress seems to be the major factor in elevated blood pressure for me, and mine is only borderline "high" without meds. When I retire in two months I expect my numbers will plummet all by themselves. Giving up doctors and medical tests may help a lot, too. I've had enough radiation this past year to glow in the dark and still no one has figured out what caused the lung infection, which was cured in two days with a big dose of antibiotic.