"HighBloodPressure" news and stories

Denny's Breakfast. Photo: jumanggy/flickr

Denny's menu features items that "are dangerously high in sodium," according to the class action lawsuit filed by a New Jersey man with the support of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a nutrition and food safety nonprofit group.

Nick DeBenedetto, of Tinton Falls, N.J., a 48-year-old on medication for high-blood pressure, filed the suit Thursday in the New Jersey Superior Court in Middlesex County.

"Denny's menu deceptively presents various items as single meals to be consumed by one individual without disclosing that they contain substantially more sodium (in some cases two or three times more) than the maximum recommended amount for all meals consumed by an individual during a given day," his complaint states.

Denny's Corporation, based out of Spartanburg, S.C., told the Los Angeles Times the suit is "frivolous and without merit."

Salt is an essential component of cooking and in a professional kitchen, chefs are lucky enough to have a sous-chef to offer a second taste opinion. Whenever I eat out, it's one of the things I notice right away, because both under- and over-seasoning ruin the dish for me.

According to a recently released study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, many restaurant chains are guilty of overloading their meals with salt, thus increasing millions of customers' risk of high blood pressure, heart attack and stroke, Nearly 85 percent of the adult-sized meals at 10 popular chain restaurants have more than the recommended daily limit for total sodium intake -- 2,300 milligrams, or roughly one teaspoon of table salt.

Most home cooks are keenly aware of the connection between excessive salt consumption and high blood pressure which results from the body's need to dilute high concentrations with additional water. As a result, home cooks tend to err on the side of caution and don't use enough salt to bring out the best of each dish.

So, how do you know if you're using enough salt?

Get Jennifer's smart seasoning and salt-busting tips after the jump.

After successfully forcing NYC restaurants to post calorie counts on menus and to stop cooking with trans fat, Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, the commissioner of New York City's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, is waging a war on salt. A recent New York Times article explains that he's going after packaged food companies and mass-produced restaurant meals. Apparently, they contribute 80 percent of the sodium in the average American diet. Over the next five years, Dr. Frieden aims to cut the level of salt intake by 25 percent.

Is salt so bad for us? Salt, in some people (not everyone) can lead to high blood pressure which is a leading factor in the incidence of heart attack and stroke. At the same time, many scientists do not believe sodium intake is directly related to high blood pressure. In the past, studies comparing hypertensive populations found that those on low-salt diets had more than four times as many heart attacks as those on normal-sodium diets.

Although the health link may not be clear, what's obvious is that excess of most ingredients cannot be healthy. And, foods at fast-food chains, like McDonald's, are outrageously high in sodium. It seems that if dealt with in a reasonable way, Dr. Frieden's goal can be quite progressive. What do you think?

I haven't added salt to food in 15 years. I have high blood pressure and don't want to risk any possible increase. Besides, a lot of food we eat already has enough salt in it and I haven't missed it. If I add anything at all, it's pepper or one of the many flavors that Mrs. Dash gives us.

The Salt Institute has a large FAQ page about salt. You can find out what salt exactly is, how much is produced in the U.S., effects it has on the human body, how animals react to salt, how much salt an athlete needs. There's even a huge list of recipes that contain salt. Recipes that contain salt? Wouldn't that be too big a list to have even on the web? Actually, they're recipes for food where salt is a vital ingredient.

According to a study conducted at Black Entertainment Television during the summer of 2005, there were far more more commercials for fast food and snacks on black-oriented TV than on channels aimed at the more general population. The results of this study, which will likely prove to be provocative, indicated a cause for the rising trend in obesity among African-American children. The study monitored commercials during the afternoon hours, the time slot most attractive to children who watch cartoons and 'tween shows; the the WB network and Disney Channel were also involved in the study. During the time slot, over 1,000 ads were shown on all three channels. On BET 66 percent of the ads were for fast food commercials, as opposed to 34 percent on the WB and none on the Disney channel. BET scored an 82 percent for soda ads, with WB at 11 percent and the Disney channel was again last at 6 percent. As for high calorie, low fiber snacks, the BET commercial time came in at 60 percent, nothing for the WB and the Disney channel scored 60 percent.

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