Sarah Katz, 21, had a heart condition and was not aware of the drink’s caffeine content, which exceeded that of cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined, according to a legal filing
Sarah Katz, 21, had a heart condition and was not aware of the drink’s caffeine content, which exceeded that of cans of Red Bull and Monster energy drinks combined, according to a legal filing
Try to cut salt out as much as possible too.
If reducing caffeine does the trick, you don’t want to also cut out salt pre-emptively. There are dangers to cutting salt and it should be a last resort if nothing else works to reduce blood pressure.
What are the dangers? Last I saw yes you need sodium, but it’s an extremely small amount per day to stay healthy. So little that if you weren’t trying to diet you would probably surpass the amount after your first meal.
For me my pcp+PharmD were trying to dial in my bp meds, but my numbers were being stubborn. So they recommended I also cut out salt too.
So a month passes and I go back for labs (one of my bp meds had potential kidney side effects) – my sodium and potassium came in too low. They asked if I was having more water/liquid/diuretics, anything else in combination to help explain the drastic drop, but nope.
And I kid you not, they were like yeah maybe don’t cut out all salt from your diet.
Yeah salt is a super necessary mineral for the body. Like it’s wildly important.
But also salt is wildly effective as a flavor enhancer and so easy to go overboard with. There is actually an old wives tale in the food sciences industry that when setting the average salt intake levels, they decided actually to go with a little under the recommended amount cause they figured everyone would go over just by a little anyways.
You need sodium to stay hydrated and not trace amounts but significant amounts. You lose salt in sweat. If you’re not replenishing it then your body will retain less and less water leasing to chronic dehydration.
But not too much! Some salt is good, but not the absurd amounts you’ll find in prepared food from the food service industry.
Also, make sure the salt you use has iodine in it. Lots of people don’t get that
If you eat only home cooked meals then yes definitely don’t cut it out completely but if you eat out at restaurants or any processed foods then you’re almost guaranteed to get all the salt you need.
Maybe more than people need, but this is person specific
Is there actually solid science behind that? I had a friend who swore that it really has no effect, and when I personally looked into it, it seemed that a large portion of the population sees higher blood pressure from it, but for most it’s a short term increase.
I think at the end of the day, moderation is what’s most important.