“You have high blood pressure.”

No one wants to hear these words, especially if you routinely keep the St Peters fast food shops in business, like processed food or just don’t like to cook! Old Mill Chiropractic understands this. Nevertheless Old Mill Chiropractic can also point out a few things that will persuade you to start managing your blood pressure now and a few ways to simply begin doing that.

Start Now

The sooner you take on your blood pressure problem, the better. Kids grow accustomed to tastes that follow them into adulthood. A love of salty tastes as a child makes it hard – not impossible, but harder! – to enjoy a lower sodium diet later in life. Luckily, though, human taste buds really don’t catch a difference of, say, 30% less sodium in a food dish. This makes it simple to adapt sodium content in meals for family chefs at home and chefs in restaurants who set their minds to reduce sodium in their recipes.  (1) Check out the chicken and spinach saute pictured right. (7)

Why Avoid Salt?

A lot of people’s kidneys have a difficult time keeping up with extra sodium in the bloodstream because sodium demands more water for dilution. That means your body has to retain more water. More water in the body makes the heart pump harder and builds pressure in the blood vessels. All this puts you at risk for high blood pressure and heart issues and kidney problems especially if you are

• Over 50 year old
• a high or elevated blood pressure patient
• diabetic
• African American (2) 

One new study proposes that excessive salt dietary salt stresses blood pressure and even behavior and anxiety in rats. (You have to do a study with some creature!) (3) Just another reason to contain salt intake.

How?

As for how to get a grasp on your salt intake, first reduce intake as much as possible. St Peters food can taste terrific without as much salt! Cook your own meals and use spices like cardamom, pepper, and rosemary. Lemon is a great flavor enhancer! Sear, sauté and roast your meats in healthy fats and oils to keep the sodium down. (1) Secondly, balance it with potassium intake. (1) Potassium has the opposite effect on the body that sodium does: it reduces blood pressure, relaxes blood vessels and gets rid of sodium. (3)

St Peters Chiropractic’s Potential Role in Hypertension Management

Some studies have reported success in treating hypertension with spinal manipulation. Some studies had higher bias than others and showed greater success, but even in studies with less bias, some decreases in blood pressure were observed. Massage has been shown to be helpful as well. (5) Non-drug care for blood pressure, if it works for you, is a positive! Old Mill Chiropractic treats patients with blood pressure issues often!

Research data show that 18.0% of patients seeking complementary and alternative medicine like chiropractic manipulation have hypertension. (6) So take comfort that your St Peters chiropractor knows this fact and can coordinate care with your other healthcare providers as necessary.

So discuss your hypertension with your concerned St Peters chiropractor at Old Mill Chiropractic. Maybe working more closely on it with your determination to reduce salt intake, to balance it with potassium intake and to receive regular chiropractic care will make a positive impact on your numbers. Call (636) 928-7387 or contact Old Mill Chiropractic today to make your next chiropractic appointment.