Heart Disease

What do excessive amounts of salt do to the body? It would depend on how much excess salt (or salty foods) you ate in how much time and how well your kidneys functioned. Salt is a compound containing 2 minerals, sodium, and chloride and it attracts water. When the salt content of your blood goes up,...

Thank you very much for your kind and informative reply and it was quite fast too. Now encouraged by this, I have a couple of more questions. I have to watch my cholesterol and it goes up if I don't pay attention. My dad died of a heart attack when he was 52 years...

Hello I am doing a report for my foods class on the effects of caffeine as a way to help myself. I consume 8 to 9 cups of coffee and some cola through out the day. I was wondering if you could email me with an address where I could receive this info on...

I am going to be in a 100-mile bike race in July and have heard that some caffeine may help me last longer and go faster. Is that true? If so, how much caffeine should I take? Sports researchers have studied the positive effects of small amounts of caffeine on athletes by reducing fatigue. Caffeine-containing...

Is potato sausage high in sodium or calories? Should a person on high blood pressure medication eat potato sausage? Sausage is high-fat meat and contains about 100 calories per ounce and approximately 390 milligrams of sodium per ounce. For a three-ounce serving that equals about 300 calories and 1170 milligrams of sodium. A person with...

I work shift work and my doctor told me to cut down on coffee. I bring a thermos of coffee to work, so I do need the caffeine. But, it's giving me irregular heartbeats. Should I just cut the coffee out cold turkey? Symptoms of too much caffeine (a headache, tremor, nervousness, irritability, increased sensitivity),...

I'm in the process of applying for life insurance. I just received the blood test results back and there are 3 elevated items. I read your information on triglycerides which was very helpful. However, mine is at 545 mg/dl. You mentioned that 150 was at the high end of normal. My cholesterol is at...

Just did the Healthy Body Calculator®. Didn't tell me anything I didn't already know. My question is I'm overweight, I don't eat too much. I try to buy everything lite. My big problem is cola. I am totally addicted and get headaches when I try to avoid it. I've been told to try diet...

Which brand of margarine is best? I cannot recommend a specific brand to you. However, look for a margarine with a liquid oil as the first ingredient on the food label. Oils that are high in polyunsaturated fat are safflower, sunflower, soybean, corn, and cottonseed. Polyunsaturated fats help lower blood cholesterol levels. The margarine will...

I am not pregnant. I don't set amount of time to do exercise. But I walk stairs and up walk up steep hills and play with my mom's babysitting kids. I also am on my feet at all times while I am at work which is pretty often. One thing I don't do is drink a...