Articles by Dr. Erdman are for informational purposes, and are not to be taken as specific medical advice.
Following up on the last article on blood pressure and a low
sodium diet, we will look at what types of salt you should be eating, how much
you can take in and other ways of reducing blood pressure.
There are several types of salt we could use, but only a few
should be consumed. Always avoid processed white salt, it is the worst one to
eat because it has no balance of other necessary minerals such a magnesium,
calcium, potassium, and iodine.
Sea salt is a popular option, but is too has a few
negatives. If the salt is made from modern day oceans, you get modern day
pollution including plastics and heavy metals. Most people think sea salt has
to have good iodine levels, but that is not true, it has almost none. If you
buy sea salt it needs to be sourced from an ancient ocean deposit. Dr.
DiNicolantonio recommends Redmond Real Salt, which is mined from an ancient
ocean salt deposit. It has good calcium,
magnesium, and iodine in it.
Himalayan salt is also a good choice. It is ancient salt,
mined from the ground. It has a pinkish color and also contains many other
trace minerals, especially iodine in good amounts. It does contain less calcium
and magnesium than the Redmond sea salt.
One of the most important ratios to pay attention to for
high blood pressure risk is the sodium to potassium balance. Ideally we should
eat 5 times more potassium than sodium! Most Americans eat twice as much sodium
as potassium. Imbalance in this ratio leads not only to high blood pressure,
but to kidney stones, memory declines, osteoporosis, and stomach ulcers and
stomach cancer. If you are eating highly processed foods and few fresh
vegetables, you are almost guaranteed to be on the wrong side of this ratio.
If the biggest culprit in high blood pressure is not salt,
what can be done to lower blood pressure? One solution seems to be optimizing
your gut bacteria. Regularly consuming probiotics can relieve hypertension,
recent studies show.
You must consume probiotics regularly for several months
before the effects will be seen. Probiotics with multiple strains of bacteria
seem to work better than single strain products. You should also increase your
intake of fermented foods which contain beneficial bacteria.
Another key to lowering cardiovascular risk and high blood
pressure is to reduce insulin resistance. As your insulin levels rise it causes
blood pressure to increase. High blood pressure is one of the side effects of
insulin resistance that drives atherosclerosis by placing stress on the arterial
walls.
Feeding and encouraging the microbiome of the gut is the
best way to better health. We are finding that immunity from disease and good health
is directly related and controlled by the gut. A healthy diet really is the key
to healthy survival.