Why to much sodium is bad for your health

salt is very tasty, just like sugar. The combination of salt, sugar and fat is unbelievably tasty. All mammals have the desire to eat these bad foods.

The amount of salt that is available today, just like the amount of sugar that is available today, is far beyond what we were meant to have in our diets.



Rachel Johnson, professor of nutrition at the University of Vermont in Burlington:

Excess sodium increases blood pressure because it holds excess fluid in the body, and that creates an added burden on the heart. Too much sodium will increase your risk of stroke, heart failure, osteoporosis, stomach cancer and kidney disease. And, 1 in 3 Americans will develop high blood pressure in their lifetime.

Limiting your sodium is tough because about 75 percent of sodium in Americans' diets comes from processed or prepared foods, not salt that we add at the table. If you're a savvy nutrition label reader, it can be shocking.

Even foods such as breads and cereals can have high amounts of salt. We call it a silent killer because a lot of people don't realize they have high blood pressure.



Marisa Moore, registered dietician and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics:

The average American eats about 3,400 milligrams sodium a day, but the recommended amount for a healthy person is 2,300 milligrams a day. For people with high blood pressure or diabetes, African Americans, and anyone who is age 51 or older, the daily recommendation is 1,500 milligrams of sodium.

So, most people are consuming double what they need in terms of salt.

For most people, a high sodium diet can lead to retaining fluid. And for some sensitive people, retaining fluid can lead to higher blood pressure, which puts someone at higher risk of stroke, heart disease and kidney disease. Whenever you have a high blood pressure, it causes your heart to have to work a lot harder and it can cause damage to blood vessels and the heart muscle itself.

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Stephanie Dunbar, registered dietician, director of Nutrition and Medical Affairs at the American Diabetes Association

Excess salt is has been linked to hypertension, and of course hypertension is a risk for heart disease. Some populations of people are very sodium sensitive, meaning when they eat sodium they retain fluid and their blood pressure rises.

There's some research that shows if everybody reduced sodium in their diet, the rates of heart disease in the United States would go way down.

With our current food production it's very difficult to cut out sodium. A slice of bread can have 250 milligrams of sodium alone. Unless you get back to a diet where you're really cooking from scratch, and not using processed foods or canned foods, it's really hard to reach that recommendation.

Salt has been used for hundreds of years as a preservative, and some food makers use it as a flavoring because it's cheaper. It's more expensive to use other herbs and spices to make food taste good better than to add salt.


Mary Ellen DiPaola, outpatient dietitian at the University of California San Francisco Medical Center

Sodium chloride, which we acquire from table salt as well as from salted food products, is required for metabolic functions in the body and helps regulate fluid volume. The issue with sodium is similar to sugar: The average American consumes well above the recommended amount.

If we are consuming fresh, whole and natural foods, sodium intake can be reduced quite easily. Avoiding added salt, soy sauce or other salty condiments will also help reduce total sodium intake. Look for products less than 140 milligrams per serving, which is considered to be low in sodium.

Requesting less sodium added to foods in restaurants is another means to reduce total daily sodium. More importantly, consider cooking at home with fresh foods and low sodium recipes.

And why should you lower sodium intake? Sodium in excess can increase blood pressure in those who have hypertension (high blood pressure), it can make the body retain fluids which may cause swelling in susceptible individuals, and salty foods tend to also be high in total fat and calories – leading to excess total calorie intake, overweight and obesity.

A long term problem related to hypertension is kidney disease, a chronic illness which can lead to kidney failure.

Tips for dead lift

know a ton of people that love deads, but are wondering if training them every week with no time off is an issue. To all you people out there, the deadlift is a basic movement. It’s one of the primary movements we as humans perform routinely, as we routinely find a need to bend down and pick sh/t up.

There’s nothing wrong with making exercises you love a staple in your routine as long as it doesn’t interfere with your goals. Let’s say for example, you have 3 herniated discs and your goal is to reduce lumbar load during a rehabilitation period, then deadlifts may not be in the mix of things for you to do.

All that aside, there are many different ways to load, unload, deload, periodize, accommodate, assist, speed up, slow down and do whatever other things you can think of when training your deadlift.

My main concern is that you are not routinely pulling heavy. This will lead to issues. You can’t always move heavy sh/t and not eventually have some kind of problem. Much like everything else in life, it can be used as a stress release technique, although lifting and resistance training causes its own stress, so you need to be careful as to how you utilize it.

A safe way to load the deadlift for a significant period of time is to utilize Jim Wendler’s 5-3-1 program without training to failure on any set. The sets and reps are based off Prelipins chart and are submaximal.

Next, you can perform speed deadlifts. Speed deads are usually performed with 40-60% of your 1RM (1 rep max) and not done to fatigue. They’re a great way to excite the nervous system while stimulating strength and growth.

Another way is to perform them oxidatively. By definition, work becomes aerobic at 2 minutes, so you can perform deadlifts at a steady tempo for 2+ minutes, obviously at low weight, 25% and below. Another variation of aerobic work is interval fashion, perform a higher intensity at a steady tempo for 40 seconds, keep your heart rate within a certain range, once the heart rate drops below that range, get lifting again.

Accommodating resistance is always a favorite with deadlifts. Guys love feeling bad ass when pulling with chains, the sound, the weight, you can tell people how much is on the bar and neglect to explain how it’s only heaviest at the top, it’s pretty sweet. But if done properly, it’s a great way to keep stress off the back initially at the ground where most occurs.

And lastly, shortening the range of motion is always a great choice. For one, it takes the stress off the back from the ground. Next, you can handle more weight and it’s a great ego booster. But again, if done correctly, it’s a very useful tool.
Perform all these variations of the deadlift sub maximally and you’ll be able to perform them routinely with out much of a problem.

3 facts on kale

For your immune system: Kale is rich in beta-carotene (vitamin A), a powerful antioxidant that may help boost the immune system and possibly protect against some chronic diseases and cancer. At least one study also found that long-term consumption of beta-carotene had cognitive benefits. For your bones: Kale is is one of the few vegetables with a decent amount of calcium, but it’s especially high in magnesium — just a cup contains 40 percent of the RDA — which is very important for bone health and to protect against osteoporosis. Magnesium has a crucial job working with vitamin D to help your bones absorb calcium. In addition, research has shown that the vitamin K in kale also contributes to bone health by improving bone density. For your heart: While recent studies have found that antioxidant supplements, like vitamin E pills, don’t protect against heart disease, foods like kale that are naturally high in antioxidants are definitely heart-healthy, says the Cleveland Clinic. Plus, kale’s magnesium and potassium help lower blood pressure, and its high fiber content can help lower cholesterol — all beneficial factors in lowering your risk of cardiovascular illness.

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