As seen in Sun-Times News Group, Oct. 21, 2009 Salt & Sensibility By JEANNE MILLSAP 

There have been remarkable advances in treating high blood pressure recently, but doctors are still seeing more and more patients who have it. There are several factors that can cause high blood pressure, or hypertension, such as genetics, being overweight, and race. But perhaps the simplest thing one can do to keep a healthy blood pressure is to limit salt intake. That goes for everyone, not just those who already have high blood pressure.

Many physicians are now advising all their patients avoid too much salt, not just the elderly, blacks or those with diabetes. Parents should even limit the amount of salt they let their children have, doctors say. "Even healthy, young adults should be concerned about their salt intake," said family practice physician Jana Mohan at Provena Medical Group in Channahon. "And for their children, too. Their kidneys aren't as well developed as ours, and they aren't able to take it (sodium) as well."

Mohan said the first thing families should do is to take the salt shaker off the table. Don't use it to salt food after it's cooked, she said. A colleague of hers, a cardiologist, even recommends people throw out all the salt they have in their homes and don't buy more. Mohan admits she can't quite go that far. She does use a pinch or so of salt on some foods that she said might otherwise be bland, like potatoes and rice. But she does not salt foods once they are on the plate. "Once food comes to the table," she said, "I don't salt things. I don't even put the salt shaker on the table. "If you think about it, you don't salt raw carrots, so why salt them when they're cooked and on your plate? Salt can enhance the flavor, but you'll find if you don't use salt for a while that the food itself has a good flavor. You will get used to using no salt."

Avoiding processed foods and cooking from scratch will help cut back the sodium, too, Mohan said, since processed foods normally contain a lot of salt. Eating foods with a lot of salt causes the body to retain more water, the physician explained, which makes the blood vessels have to contain a larger volume. Young, healthy vessels can expand to accommodate the increase in blood volume, but older, stiffer vessels cannot, and the blood pressure rises. A blood pressure higher than 120/80 can lead tocoronary artery disease, heart attacks, kidney damage, vision damage, strokes in the brain from vessels bursting, and even heart damage from the heavier workload on the heart.