Salt Affects More Than Just Blood Pressure

How's your diet? If you mainly eat fruits and vegetables and other healthy foods, you're doing great. However, if your menu looks anything like the typical American diet, you eat more pizza, French fries, burgers, and sweets than you should. And that's a problem that can add far more sodium to your diet than considered healthy.

In fact, the American Heart Association recommends most adults consume no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day. You don't have to look far among pizza restaurants and fast food stops to find a burger, pizza slice, or main dish loaded with 1,500 mg of sodium, the maximum amount of sodium recommended for an entire day.

For years, health professionals believed the major side effect of a high sodium diet was elevated blood pressure. It's a risk factor for heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in the United States. No wonder your blood pressure is checked at every doctor's visit, and there's a blood pressure cuff at every pharmacy and major retail stores across the country.

However, new research suggests that high blood pressure isn't the only downside to consuming too much sodium. In a study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, researchers confirmed other effects of salt on health. Too much sodium can elevate blood pressure. But they also found that excess sodium in your diet can also damage the blood vessels in your heart, stiffen arteries, impair kidney function, disrupt the sympathetic nervous system, and even interfere with muscle contraction.

Fortunately, adopting healthier eating habits to limit the amount of sodium in your diet can have a significant impact on your health and risk for heart disease and other chronic conditions. At MagicKitchen.com, we've created a complete line-up of Low-Sodium Meals that taste great for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and don't have the elevated sodium levels typically found in processed foods.

Forget about high-sodium restaurant foods, or recipes that call for excess salt that can elevate your blood pressure and harm your health in other ways. Instead, give our Low-Sodium Meals a try and enjoy entrees like Three Cheese Ravioli & Spinach Alfredo, Beef Pot Roast with Mushroom Gravy, Brown Rice & Green Beans, or Egg Patties & Turkey Sausage.

You'll be doing your blood pressure and overall health a favor that will help you feel better and live longer.