What’s Best – Low Sodium or High Minerals
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A recent Cochrane review suggests that diabetic patients should keep to a low salt diet to prevent diabetic kidney disease. Their collaboration review looked at 13 studies. These included 254 patients suffering from type and type 11 diabetes and noted that reducing salt intake by a whopping 8.5mg per day matched the effects experienced from a single antihypertensive medication (7.1/3.1 mmHg – type 1, 6.9/2.9 mmHg type 11).[1] They also acknowledged that this was a short study – so the effect was noticed in just 7 days, but that it would be difficult to maintain over a longer period.
Salt- Heart Disease and Industry
There is of course a well-known relationship between sodium chloride and hypertension[1] and we all make comments when we see the enthusiastic application of table salt onto food or add in the making of food. These are the visible uses of this flavour enhancer, but it is the salt used in food manufacturing that represents the largest exposure for most people.
A recent paper out in Nov 2010 in the BMJ Heart & Education explores the painfully slow progress towards suitable reductions.[2] Many countries do recommend restricting daily sodium intake to 100 mmol (approximately 6 g of table salt) or less, but in a recent review of world salt levels, only seven out of the 25 countries reviewed met this goal suggesting a lack of legislative pressure and social interest.[3]
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Blueberries for Blood Pressure Benefits – A Medicinal Food?
In the management of patients for hypertension and weight, linked to metabolic syndrome, we will find ourselves saying – eat more fruits and vegetables without always giving them our full attention – well I do anyway!
A paper just out in the Journal of Nutrition describes the effects of consuming 50gm of freeze dried blueberry smoothie equivalent they suggest to -350g of fresh blueberries for eight weeks by 48 participants (44 women & 4 men) with an average age of 50 and BMI of 38kg/m2.[1]
This was not just a simple watch and see trial, they randomised it with a placebo, so whilst the numbers are small the methodology is sound. The controls were asked to consume 960ml of water daily – even this had an effect as I have previously described.
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Dr’s Make Blood Pressure Soar!
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In the ever increasing fight against vascular disease and related health problems the role of the silent marker – Blood Pressure has always been regarded as a sentinel sign. The levels determined to be safe have been adjusted over the years to try and develop a public and medical policy towards compression of risk. Therefore nurses and Dr’s perform clinic blood pressure tests to look for indications of different states of hypertension. This study from the BMJ indicates who and how, has significant effects on results/intervention.[1]
Nattokinase for Hypertension
The objective of this study was to examine the effects of nattokinase supplementation on blood pressure in subjects with pre-hypertension or stage 1 hypertension. In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 86 participants ranging from 20 to 80 years of age with an initial untreated systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 130 to 159 mmHg received nattokinase (2,000 FU/capsule) or a placebo capsule for 8 weeks. Seventy-three subjects completed the protocol. Compared with the control group, the net changes in SBP and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) were -5.55 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI], -10.5 to -0.57 mmHg; p<0.05) and -2.84 mmHg (CI, -5.33 to -0.33 mmHg; p<0.05), respectively, after the 8-week intervention. The corresponding net change in renin activity was -1.17 ng/mL/h for the nattokinase group compared with the control group (p<0.05). In conclusion, nattokinase supplementation resulted in a reduction in SBP and DBP. These findings suggest that increased intake of nattokinase may play an important role in preventing and treating hypertension.
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Vitamin C and Hypertension in Young Women
Summary: In a cross-sectional study involving 242 healthy young women (Black and White) between the ages of 18 and 21 years, who were followed for 10 years, plasma levels of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) were found to be inversely associated with systolic and diastolic blood pressure. Subjects in the highest fourth of plasma ascorbic acid levels were found to have systolic blood pressure 4.66 mm Hg lower and diastolic blood pressure 6.04 mm Hg lower than those in the lowest fourth of plasma ascorbic acid levels. The study also found that plasma ascorbic acid was inversely associated with change in blood pressure during the previous year (those with higher plasma ascorbic acid levels had significantly less increases in blood pressure over the previous year as compared to the increases in blood pressure found among those with lower plasma ascorbic acid levels). The authors conclude, “Since lower BP in young adulthood may lead to lower BP and decreased incidence of age-associated vascular events in older adults, further investigation of treatment effects of vitamin C on BP regulation in young adults is warranted.”
Block G, Jensen CD, Norkus EP, Hudes M, Crawford PB. Vitamin C in plasma is inversely related to blood pressure and change in blood pressure during the previous year in young Black and White women.Nutr J. 2008 Dec 17;7:35. View Abstract View Full Paper
The immune system is prone to the same grave misfortunes as any defense system handling weapons: collateral damage that comes with the destruction of the enemy on one’s own territory and friendly fire due to mistaken identity. Whereas the collateral damage is the price we pay for clearance of infections, autoimmunity is a pathological process. Nevertheless, the effector mechanisms involved in both processes are the same. Whether environment can be a cause, a trigger or an amplifier of an autoimmune disease are questions that are being intensively investigated.
