Question

1. Liz has recently been diagnosed with hypertension and told to cut back on her dietary sodium. Explain how sodium affects blood pressure and provide practical suggestions that would help Liz reduce her sodium intake. In your response, consider the guidelines in the DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) diet.

2. Define the terms “free radical” and “antioxidant”. Explain how free radicals are formed in the human body and how antioxidant nutrients function in decreasing human disease.

Answer 1

1.High consumption of salt increases the amount of sodium in our blood which afffects the sodium ion concentration thereby decreasing the efficacy of kidneys to remove water which causes high blood pressure/ hypertension.

• Study Nutrition Facts label.
• Cook your own meals with less salt in recipes
• Purchase fresh meats, fruits, and vegetables.
• Wash canned foods containing salt (such as beans, tuna, and vegetables).
• Add otherspices to your food likecoriander, black pepper, , parsley, cumin, o, ginger, rosemary, , thyme, , garlic or onion powder, bay leaf, oregano, dry mustard, or dill as a substitute of salt
• decrease portion size; less food means less sodium.

2. Free radical: It is a molecule or molecular fragment which comprises of one or more unpaired electrons in its outer most shell or orbit example Hydroxyl radical (OH^.), nitric oxide radical(NO^.).

Antioxidant: It is a molecule that prohibits the oxidation of other molecules. They combact with free radicals produced within our body.

Formation of free radicals: Free radicals are mainly formed due to environmental factors and cellular metabolism in our body

Anti oxidants are often termed as free radical scavengers as they fight against the oxidative damage caused by free radicals and helps us to fight against various diseases including cancer, heart attack,arthritis etc.