1. What You Need to Know About High Blood Pressure, Salt, and Sodium

2. What is Blood Pressure? Blood Pressure
Is the force of the blood against the walls of your arteries. (like the pressure of water in the garden hose)
Arteries transport oxygen and nutrients to the body, which are vital to survive

3. Why is Blood Pressure Important??
It allows blood to move through your body.
If it becomes too high, it can cause serious health problems

4. Normal Blood Pressure The Systolic Blood Pressure (120)
Blood Pressure is measured by a Sphygmomanometer or a stethoscope either manually or automatically
Two numbers are read:
The Systolic Blood Pressure (120)
Systolic means that the heart is pumping
The heart is in a state of contraction
The Diastolic Blood Pressure (80)
Diastolic means that the heart is at rest
The heart is at rest

5. Facts about High Blood Pressure
Having HBP makes your heart pump harder than it should to get blood to all parts of the body.
The increased blood pressure allows more blood to be pumped to the body to help the body cope with increased activity or stress.

6. Facts about High Blood Pressure
In 2002, it killed 49,707 individuals
1/3 Americans suffer from HBP
As many as 65 million Americans age 6 and older have high blood pressure.

7. Another name for HBP is Hypertension
A systolic of 140 and a diastolic over 90 mm Hg is considered high for Adults.
It is diagnosed after a trend is seen by your doctor

8. Having HBP is life threatening.
Health Problems
Stroke
Blindness
Heart Attack
Kidney failure
Having HBP is life threatening.

9. HBP has no symptoms and therefore called the silent Killer
Thirty percent of people with high blood pressure don't know they have it
HBP can affect people of ALL ages, even young adults
It has no cure, but can be treated and controlled
If your parents have HBP it will put you at risk but doesn’t necessarily mean you will get it
HBP can be prevented by exercising moderately and having a healthy diet

10. Risk Factors for High Blood Pressure
Eating salty and fatty foods
Lack of Physical Activity
Stress
Smoking
Being overweight raises your chances of having HBP 2 to 3 times
Drinking alcohol raises blood pressure
Heredity
**You need to be physically active in order to prevent High Blood Pressure**

12. Salt and Sodium
Reducing intake of salt and sodium by itself reduces the risk of hypertension
In the U.S., people consume between 4,000-6,000 milligrams of salt and sodium each day 8 to 12 times more than what our body needs
Our body needs 500 mg of salt a day which is about a quarter of a teaspoon
Salt is a chemical compund: NaCl
Na- Sodium Cl- Chlorine

15. How can we control the amount of salt we consume each day?
One of the best ways is to read the
Food Label!
Food label offers a great variety of information including:
- Serving size
- Sodium
- Number of servings