I'm beginning to teach myself to be more careful about what I'm eating for breakfast, lunch, and supper. I've been a label reader for many years now, paying particular attention to fat and cholesterol, but I've learned through having this damn cold that's now been plaguing me for almost two weeks that my blood pressure is running high. I'm beginning to pay attention to sodium content in foods, along with watching the fat and cholesterol.
This is merely the beginning. I expect that at some point I will ask for a referral to a dietitian or some such specialist for advice; I'm thinking if I know I should have no more than "x" milligrams of salt in my diet a day, I can work with a number. Just being told to reduce the salt in my diet would not be particularly helpful to me.
Shredded wheat cereal has no sodium in it.
Incidentally, when I saw a doctor about my cold, I asked him if stress can contribute to hypertension, and he said yes. Then when I saw the nurse practitioner, she asked me if I was under a lot of stress, because stress can contribute to hypertension. So I guess stress can contribute to high blood pressure.
Illness can also raise blood pressure.
