By The Eismans (And we should know as we are doctors)

SALT

Salt is fine. It is a sin, by any religion to eat French fries without salt. Salt is OK (but not great) for 90% of the population. AH! But here’s the rub. What about the 10%? What we are concerned about is those that have high blood pressure.

There are two mechanisms that result in elevation of blood pressure above normal (hypertension). First, the blood vessels are too tight, and the heart needs to increase its work to squeeze blood through these narrow vessels. Many of our medications address this problem. The second mechanism is retention of water. Think of a big, tall tank. As you add water, and it begins to fill, the weight of the water is the increase in pressure. In our body, salt controls the amount of water, and volume of our blood. It is easy to understand that in an individual with hypertension, salt is poison as it raises blood volume and increases pressure.