There was a very early Star Trek episode called “The Man
Trap”. In this episode, a shape-shifting, salt-hungry creature terrorizes the crew
of the Enterprise. The creature cannot live without salt and
resorts to romancing humans (yes, even Capt. Kirk and Dr. Mc Coy!) so that she
can shape shift back into her monster form and suck all the sodium from their
bodies. Fortunately she didn’t suck the
salt out of Kirk and Bones, but some minor crewmen were not so lucky.
I used to
laughingly refer to myself as the “Salt Monster” (all Star Trek fans knew this
show by that name) given my love of and craving for all things salty. Yes, I’m one of those people who puts salt on
watermelon, apples, and raw carrots. I could
skip the “golden buttery flavoring" for movie popcorn, but never the extra salt.” I recently started buying this product called
Jane’s Krazy Mixed-up Seasonings – it has herbs, spices, onion & garlic in
it but it mostly has – SALT! I’m always
the person at the table who says “Pass the salt.” And later, if you’re looking
for the salt, it’s most likely by my plate.
Why am I talking
about salt? Well, because last week I
drove myself to the ER after having two very bad nosebleeds in one day. It turned out that my problem wasn’t so much
the nosebleeds; the problem was that I came in with a blood pressure (BP) of
180 over something and left with it at 160 over something. Of course I heeded their advice to call my
Doc the next day and now I’ve been taking my BP everyday for 3 days. It continues to stay high and now I’m freaking
out and probably contributing to the problem.
What I want to
know is how does someone who always had perfect BP suddenly have high BP? Is it because I just went thru a stressful
period of moving? Is it Jane’s Krazy
Salt? Have I become a Shape Shifter? Or am I just freaking old? Yeah, I think it’s the last one. I read somewhere that the longer you live the
more inclined you are to high BP, high Cholesterol, and Diabetes. And this is in spite of my generations’
willingness to cut out smoking, overeating and being a couch potato. I don’t smoke, I drink very little, I don’t
fry foods or bake cakes for my consumption anymore, and I try to exercise. I thought I was going to get a pass on taking
a handful of meds every day like my parents.
I guess not.
It’s only been three
days, I tell myself. But I feel headachy
and weird even though I ate oatmeal this morning -- I hate oatmeal! Last night I spent hours on Web MD reading
about symptoms and comparing them to mind.
I also found info on the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension)
Diet made famous by the Mayo Clinic. There
were a few sample menus, but not enough to get a real feel.
I was out this
morning first thing to visit Barnes and Noble where I purchased The
Dash Diet Action Plan by Marla Heller, MS, RD and The Everything Dash Diet Cookbook
authored by two MDs. I might add that
Barnes and Noble is connected to a Starbucks and I did not have my
regular coffee (somewhere in my readings I saw that coffee was “BAD”.)
I consulted with
my friend Mike who has struggled with this problem and he had lots of good
advice. He keeps sodium intake to 15-1800
mgs a day. He warned me I’d be astonished
at what foods contain salt. He’s
right! I threw a yogurt, a diet coke and
a bottle of water into my bag for my lunch so as not to be tempted to eat
out. After I ate, I found that all but
the water contained salt! Yogurt has
salt? Who knew?
Oh my, I can see
it stretching before me – a lifetime of label reading and denying myself all my
favorite treats. It’s true that all semblances
of normal eating and routine exercise flew out the window over the last few
months as I prepared to sell my house and move to a new place. I quit going to my weight lifting class; we
ordered pizza and ate out more; and all my restful routines and lazy afternoons
disappeared in a flurry of activity and trips to the container store. I was consumed with 100s of details that come
with a move. I’m trying to tell myself
that I have neglected my normal good habits and may have brought this on myself. I know that, but it’s still disturbing.
I so wanted to
get back to writing this blog again and now that I’ve written one – it’s not
even amusing. Oh well, just had to be
said. Hope to rally and get back to my
usual up-beat self.
Now, what to make
for dinner…
I’m just
saying.
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