Canned Food Label over50health healthover50 thefiftyplusnetowkr

Canned Food Label

For the past 2 years, I have had difficulty controlling my blood pressure. When I am stressed, it spikes. I thought it was job stress. When my doctor recommended blood pressure medication, that’s when it became serious for me. When I went to the pharmacy to fill the prescription, the pharmacist requested to speak with me about the medication, which was unusual. Never before had a pharmacist requested to speak to me about a medication! The prescription was for 10mg of Amlodipine. The pharmacist asked about my blood pressure, and I told him what I had experienced over the last couple of years. He cautioned me that Amlodipine was a “calcium channel blocker,” which opens the arteries to improve blood flow. The most important statement he made to me was that once you start taking these types of drugs, you cannot get off. My doctor told me that I may only have to take the Amlodipine for 6 months, until my blood pressure stabilized. The pharmacist also told me that Amlodipine has 3 side effects:

  1. Dizziness upon standing up
  2. Swollen ankles or swollen lower legs
  3. Lack of energy

I told the pharmacist that it was always important to me to avoid having to take any medication on a regular basis. He responded that I needed to be very aware of my diet. He mentioned that canned foods have lots of sodium and preservatives that can increase my blood pressure. BINGO! For the last few years, I have been eating canned beans everyday for lunch and dinner. My reason was to add fiber and protein to my diet, and to lose weight. The beans helped me to meet both goals. However, I failed to notice the amount of sodium per serving.

The FDA recommends no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day. When I added up my sodium intake per day, it was 2,000 mg! I was shocked and relieved. Now, I had the answer to stabilizing my blood pressure without taking medications. My daily goal is to cut my sodium intake in half, so I am cooking Bulk Dried Navy Beans – Non GMO (Three Pounds) myself instead of buying them in a can. I cut my daily Special K Cereal, Original, 18-Ounce Boxes (Pack of 3) breakfast to one cup of cereal instead of 2 cups. Even the 2% Lactaid milk has 125 mg of sodium per cup! I am looking at the label of everything I eat to make sure I stay below my daily goal! I am determined to avoid having to take blood pressure medication. Join us at TheFiftyPlusNetwork as we get healthy!

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