How long is sodium in your system?
I am eating a low sodium diet for my high blood pressure. However, my hypertension is not going down after 3.5 weeks of going from 3-4K mg of Sodium a day to 2K mg of sodium a day.
Any thoughts?
Thanks!
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Hello,
Sodium is a water soluble nutrient, so we tend to lose it through our sweat and urine. Lowering your sodium is a great step in achieving a healthy blood pressure, however, for hypertension, you made need to get less than 2000 mg per day for it make a difference. I would set your upper limit between 1200-1500 mg to see if this makes a difference. Lastly, be sure to follow-up with your doctor to ensure that an undiagnosed medical condition (such as sleep apnea) isn't making the issue worse.
Kind regards,
Susan Macfarlane, MScA, RD
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist
cronometer.com
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Answers
Thanks so much for your answer Susan! Very much appreciated from a true professional!
I specialize in using the DASH eating plan to get BP to goal. This works in 2 weeks usually and can be tracked with Cronometer and by having your health care team measure urine Na and K from time to time.
My mantra is show me the pee! It does not lie.
DASH goal is <1,500 mg Na and >4700 mg K which you can track with Cronometer.
Dr. CE Grim MS MD Hypertensionologist
Specializing in Difficult High Blood Pressure and using the DASH diet to help control high blood pressure thru what one eats and drinks and even avoid meds.
I am struggling with this as well. I take Lisinopril 10mg daily for high blood pressure and just started Cronometer 2 days ago so thank you for posting the Na and K targets.
I am finding it very difficult to consume enough calories without going over 1500mg Na daily. Two days of what I consider focused effort and I'm hitting ~2300mg.
I'm really enjoying the education that Cronometer is providing me