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From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n
Your support makes all the difference.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nRead more<\/span><\/svg><\/span><\/button><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nOlder adults focused on staving off high blood pressure should avoid high sodium foods, according to experts. <\/p>\n
Eating salty snacks like pretzels causes the amount of fluid in blood vessels to increase, raising the pressure inside them and making the heart work harder to function normally. This can happen within just hours of eating a few servings of hard pretzels.<\/p>\n
\u201cEating high-sodium foods, like salted pretzels, can increase blood pressure in the short term,\u201d Dr. Joy Gelbman, a cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian, told Parade<\/em>. <\/p>\nFor people over the age of 60, high blood pressure can lead to severe medical outcomes, such as a heart attack, heart failure, cardiovascular disease, or stroke. <\/p>\n
These conditions are also all more common later in life, and so is high blood pressure. <\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Eating pretzels and other salty snacks can raise blood pressure and heighten the risk for life-threatening medical conditions (Getty Images\/iStock)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\u201cAccording to statistics, more than 75 percent of adults over 65 have high blood pressure,\u201d Hartford HealthCare says.<\/p>\n
A few pretzels, a pickle, a piece of pizza, a sandwich, and other savory snacks may not seem like much of a risk to your health, but most Americans aren\u2019t aware that they\u2019re getting too much salt in their diet.<\/p>\n
The recommended amount is 2,300 milligrams, but the average American consumes 3,400 milligrams of sodium a day. That\u2019s the equivalent of about one and a half teaspoons of salt per day, Harvard Medical School notes.<\/p>\n
Knowing what sources of sodium are can help older Americans make better dietary choices. Cutting out just 1,000 milligrams of sodium a day can improve blood pressure and heart health, according to the American Heart Association.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s tricky because sodium is everywhere, especially in processed things such as deli meats, breads, frozen meals, snack foods and anything canned,\u201d Dr. Andrew Morton, a family physician at Baptist Health Medical Group in Indiana, told the American Medical Association. <\/p>\n
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open image in gallery<\/span><\/button><\/p>\n<\/div>Fruit, popcorn, and veggies are heart healthy alternatives to pretzels and chips (Getty Images\/iStock)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\nAvoiding processed foods and buying fresh or frozen vegetables, fish, and fruit is a better option, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine. <\/p>\n
People can replace pretzels with carrots, snap peas, unsalted nuts, apple slices, or filling sources of protein, such as almond butter. <\/p>\n
But, if you\u2019re really craving a salty pretzel or chip, make sure to check the nutrition label. One serving should have 200 milligrams of sodium or less. A typical serving of hard pretzels has more than 300 milligrams.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor people who crave salty foods and are seeking savory snacks, consider options such as unsalted popcorn, baked low-sodium chips, cut vegetables and roasted chickpeas,\u201d Gelbman added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging. At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story. The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Your support makes all the difference. Read more Older adults focused on staving off high blood pressure should avoid high sodium foods, according to experts. Eating salty snacks like pretzels causes the amount of fluid in blood vessels to increase, raising the pressure inside them and making the heart work harder to function normally. This can happen within just hours of eating a few servings of hard pretzels. \u201cEating high-sodium foods, like salted pretzels, can increase blood pressure in the short term,\u201d Dr. Joy Gelbman, a cardiologist at NewYork-Presbyterian, told Parade. For people over the age of 60, high blood pressure can lead to severe medical outcomes, such as a heart attack, heart failure, cardiovascular disease, or stroke. These conditions are also all more common later in life, and so is high blood pressure. open image in gallery Eating pretzels and other salty snacks can raise blood pressure and heighten the risk for life-threatening medical conditions (Getty Images\/iStock) \u201cAccording to statistics, more than 75 percent of adults over 65 have high bloo…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6152"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.seekyourlove.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}