John is a 35-year-old advertising executive. He is fairly active, has a BMI of 23, and is in generally good health. However, at his yearly physical his doctor discovers that John has high blood pressure. John assures his doctor that he eats well, and can't understand why the numbers are so high. John's doctor tells him that he probably is salt sensitive, and needs to cut back on the sodium in his diet. When John returns home he immediately puts the saltshaker in the back of the cupboard, so he is not tempted to add salt to his foods. He also replaces his usual snack of salted peanuts with dry cereal, his favorite being cornflakes. He has heard about packaged foods being high in sodium, so he swears off his usual frozen dinners and takes the time to prepare some of his favorite meals. John eats Mexican rice and beans, or a piece of smoked halibut with mashed potatoes to go with it. Since lunch is usually at the office, John decides he needs to start bringing lunch instead of ordering Chinese food with his coworkers. John goes out to the store and buys a package of bologna and some American cheese to make sandwiches. He enjoys a pudding cup for dessert. He is always very thirsty so he brings both a bottle of water and orange juice to sip on, but rarely milk. After a month on this new diet John returns to his doctor, assured that his blood pressure has gone down. To his surprise, the numbers have not budged. "I don't understand! I don't put salt on anything," John tells his doctor.
QUESTION 4
John replaces frozen dinners with Mexican rice and beans or smoked halibut, two seemingly healthy choices. Compare their sodium contents to the RDI and determine if this statement is true or false.
Mexican rice and beans is a poor choice because it contains 487 mg sodium and the RDI is 2300mg. Smoked halibut (3 oz) on the other hand is a very good choice because it contains 666 mg per serving.
A.True
B.False
QUESTION 5
Hypertension is a major public health problem that increases the risk of cardiovascular and kidney diseases. An increase in calcium and potassium intake slightly reduces both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in normotensive people, suggesting a role in the prevention of hypertension.
A.True
B.False
QUESTION 6
The fat in John's diet is the reason why he is so thirsty.
A.True
B.False