Re: Safe Sodium Level

Posted By Nancy on July 14, 1999 at 09:51:48
Recently when I had my Holter monitor results read, which turned out to be OK, thank goodness, the cardiologist raised some concern about my BP which was 140/100.  It has never been 100 before-last year it was 90.  He said to cut out salting my food for now.  I'm obese and he said before I begin strenuous exercise, he wants me to do a cardiolite stress test.
Now, I did not ask him what level of sodium I should aim for.  Can you give me some guidelines?  The problem is, I don't salt my food or salt when I cook. I've had the same box of salt in the cupboard for 2 years, so not salting my food won't help me.  However, my Mom had high BP and told me to also check labels.  I know alot of the quicky soup mixes (Cup of Soup, etc) have at least 600 mg of salt each and I eat those quite a bit.  
Once I know the level to aim for, I can plan accordingly.  I've read people like Dr. Ornish drop their folks to 2 to 5 grams per day, is that necessary?  I assume that's eating just fresh fruit and veggies.  Thanks for your input.

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - CRC on July 14, 1999 at 11:42:51
2 gms a day is difficult but can be done for people with severe heart conditions.  For someone just starting to control their salt I would recommend less than 5 gms with the aim to less than 3-4 gms.  Weight loss and exercise will also help tremendously.  Really work on this because the benefits are well worth it.
I hope you find this information useful.  Information provided in the heart forum is for general purposes only.  Only your physician can provide specific diagnoses and therapies.  Please feel free to write back with additional questions.
If you would like to make an appointment at the Cleveland Clinic Heart Center, please call 1-800-CCF-CARE or inquire online by using the Heart Center website at www.ccf.org/heartcenter.  The Heart Center website contains a directory of the cardiology staff that can be used to select the physician best suited to address your cardiac problem.

[Nancy__0__0]

Posted By Nancy on July 14, 1999 at 15:54:05
Just to be sure my math is right since I wasn't a math major in school-you're saying to aim for 300 to 400 milligrams per days?  Wow, I read something on the web that suggested 2,000 milligrams a day.  Like I said, I guess fresh fruit and vegetables is it, then.  Yeah, my son and I are going the exercise and food control route.  Thanks!

[Cleveland Clinic, MD]

Posted By CCF CARDIO MD - CRC on July 15, 1999 at 08:34:51
3-4 grams which is 3000-4000 milligrams.  Generally fresh or frozen fruits and veggies are much better than canned.
CRC










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