Watch those labels Have you noticed how hard it is to avoid excess salt, and sugar, in processed foods, here in Mexico? I thought it was bad in the states, but Mexicans seem to have a real sweet tooth, for one thing. Oatmeal's good for you, right? No saturated fat, naturally high in fiber, etc., etc. Recently, I looked more carefully at the label of some instant oatmeal I'd been using and enjoying in large quantities, mislead by the packaging which proclaimed, "No Sugar Added"! But, when I finally looked at the fine print in the nutritional information (I have no idea where they can find type that small), and calculated from the number of grams of sugar it contained to the number of teaspoons of sugar that would represent, it came to seven teaspoons of sugar! Goodness gracious.... That little event made me start looking more closely at other labels- on the canned corn I liked, for example. A single serving of that had almost 1,000 grams of salt! Too much, when the optimal maximum daily sodium intake is just 1,800. Anyone trying to observe a good diet, not too heavy in salt or sugars, must read carefully, when it comes to processed foods, here, and go online when necessary for a calculator that will help you convert grams to ounces, or other measures you're more familiar with.
My husband puts a lot of salt on his food. I'm not sure how prevalent it is, but I know he and his family use the word salado/a and rico/a almost interchangeably, implying that something that is salty is delicious. V, one thing I do if I can't find a food in season and have to use a canned variety, I put it in a colander and rinse off the salt with tap water. That goes for beans, corn, or any other canned veggies that usually contain a ton of salt.
Sodium in the diet I haven't read how prevalent high blood pressure is, here, but I bet it is a big problem, just as it is in the U.S.- where so many are on blood pressure medicine when a severe limitation of sodium intake would probably get the job done for most! limejello, your suggestion of rinsing the canned corn sounds good to me.
I'm not sure how big of a problem high blood pressure is in Mexico. I would imagine that possibly that with the variety of other spices used on food, salt might not be used in nearly the quantity that it is in the U.S. The American palate is used to fatty, salty, but otherwise bland food. V, you might be interested in this article (I'm sure it won't be surprising): Over 90% of U.S. adults consume twice the recommended limit for sodium intake I just found this re: hypertension in Mexico:
So, hypertension is a problem here, just as in the U.S. Odd, though, that those three states mentioned would have a so much lower incidence of hypertension than the others.
V---- GREAT, GREAT, GREAT INFORMATION!!! I think it is awesome that you are putting out this information for "older athletes"! Let alone your line "training is not just exercise" you are very, very intelligent my friend! KUDOS! Limejello---- I am def no doctor and couldn't tell you exactly the health issues with having salt on food. I know "too much" salt intake can be misconstrued, I know in the 90s there was def a "DONT EAT TOO MUCH SALT" along with the "YOLKS IN EGGS CAUSE CHOLESTEROL".........these have both been scientifically proven the past few years to be inconclusive. Athletes need salt. Its a mineral inside our bodies that we need. Not saying that there are people in this world that consume more than they should, but just like that old school "food pyramid".......more and more information comes out and shows how things have changed over the years. BTW ------ EAT THE YOLKS IN YOUR EGGS PLEASE! :-D
I mentioned in an earlier post the risk of injury, which can set you back in your progress to fitness goals that were going so well before the injury. I'm 69 and last spring I started to develop severe pain in the cmc of both thumbs (last joint of the thumb, where it joins the wrist). It hurt to grip anything, even to grip a pen to write. Doctors, of course, said it was to be expected at my age, as they are prone to do. Unknown to them was that I had started doing pushups on my fingertips. This loads that joint, but I made no association between the two things, at the time. A sports medicine doctor said I'd developed bone spurs there, that that was causing the pain, as the spurs were dragging across the tendons nearby. Bone spurs can result from repetitive trauma. Six months of rest has solved the problem about 95%, so far, and I don't do pushups on my fingertips anymore!
