The Ingredients against Hypertension

Alcohol and junk food are forbidden, a moderate use of salt is permitted ,not more than 5 grams a day, that is to say a teaspoon :these are the key-rules to prevent and fight high pressure, the worst enemy of the cardiovascular system, that has no age limits: it affects young and old people with the same consequences. These rules have been given during the XXV Congress of the Italian Society of Hypertension ( SIIA) taking place in Rome. This year the young have been taken into consideration, because this disease has been spreading more and more among them. The SIIA President Bruno Trimarco has stated the young are taking the biggest risk , in fact this disease is not checked by the doctors among young people who should be screened just at the moment of birth. Hypertension is widely spread: it affects 15 million adults, 3% of the children between 0 and 10 years and 9% of the young between 10 and 18 years; but this is not a real picture because there are more many not diagnosed cases. What can be done to limit pressure within the normal values 80/120? The young in particular should avoid smoking, drinking alcohol and eating “fast food”¸ food rich in salt and energy- drinks rich in caffeine. But a healthy diet is advisable for everybody: the excessive use of salt is one of the causes of high pressure: today over 1 milliard people suffer from this disease all over the world and we can predict that within 2025 over 1,5 milliard people will be affected, that is to say an over- 25- year- adult out of three. There are some tricks to reduce salt daily: use spices instead of salt, never put salt on food automatically and be careful of the salt levels contained in frozen food bought in the supermarkets, reading the label; the food with less than 0,3 grams of salt every 100 grams is permitted. The World Health Foundation advices not to use more than 5 grams of salt per day ( a teaspoon) ,involving the salt already present in the food ( 75% of the salt we eat). The Siia has made an agreement with the bread-makers’ association to reduce 10% of the salt used for bread, a change not to be tasted, but meaningful for our health within the end of the year. Trimarco anticipates- we will have the first numbers of bread- makers joining the initiative; the biggest can do it easily.