Tag Archives: high blood pressure

Sparkling mineral water may contain higher salt levels than tap water

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Many carbonated mineral waters may contain high levels of salt

 

Badoit

And drinking large amounts daily can contribute to unhealthy salt levels and make you more thirsty. Tap water contains only 0.45g of salt per litre compared to luxury mineral brands, some of which are the worst offenders:

  • French Badoit contains 8 per cent of the recommended daily intake (RDI) of salt for adults, with 0.45g per litre.  It’s 11 times saltier than tap water.
  • Italian brand San Pellegrino has double the amount of salt found in tap water, with  0.08g per litre
  • Buxton sparkling water contains 0.06g per litre – one and a half times the salt in tap water.
  • Spa Barisart and Highland Spring are two of the least salty on the market, with just 0.01g of salt per litre, a quarter of the amount found in tap water.

Consuming too much salt can cause a number of health problems including raising blood pressure, increasing the risk of heart disease and stroke, and kidney problems.

In the UK the recommended maximum daily consumption of salt is 6g.  But consumers can be confused by the different names given to salt such as sodium or the chemical name Na.

Although the British Soft Drinks Federation says new guidelines will ensure that salt is called salt in drinks from December.

 

Paracetamol danger warns new research

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Boston: Women who take the painkiller paracetamol, have higher blood pressure which may lead to stroke, according to new US research.

Although older women are more at risk, those suffering from arthritic pain are more likely to suffer, says the Nurses Health Study, which found women taking more than 500mg of paracetamol a day for five years were twice as likely to develop high blood pressure.

Those aged 50 and over were at slightly higher risk than those who were younger. Doctors say the findings may also apply to men.

Paracetamol is the world’s most widely-used painkiller. Most patients using it regularly take two 500mg tablets daily.

Dr John Philip Forman, of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts, said taking ibuprofen, another overthe- counter painkiller, also carried higher risks of hypertension.

He said: ‘In our study, women who took 500mg or more of paracetamol per day, on average, were about twice as likely to develop high blood pressure as women who did not use it.’

Dr Gary Williams, a rheumatologist from Scripps Clinic in La Jolla, California, said doctors were already under pressure to switch arthritic patients from prescription drugs called coxibs to safer alternatives to avoid possible heart problems.

But Dr Geoffrey Brandon, of the Paracetamol Information Centre, said that although the study showed an association between paracetamol and hypertension, there was no reason for women to stop taking the painkiller based on the findings. :