I'm also an African. Which is why when it comes to the issue of sodium and regulation of salt in processed foods, I want to know all the answers.
In the last couple of months I've had cause to either listen to presentations on this subject, or discuss the issue with friends and colleagues. Almost always (at least more times than I care to remember) someone refers to the now well known fact that when it comes to the negative effects of high sodium intake, blacks and older individuals are particularly at risk.
Every race has it's own share of diseases that it seems to have (more or less) a monopoly on. For example, the Asians have the largest prevalence of gastric cancer world-wide, osteoporosis and endometrial cancer are known to be almost always found in older white women; so it seems fair that blacks should have their own 'disease monopoly' too - fibroids, sickle cell disease and salt sensitivity. For those who may not have heard this term used before, salt sensitivity is simply the increased tendency of an individual to develop high blood pressure with high salt intakes. This phenomenon is most commonly observed in blacks, overweight individuals, people with diabetes and in the elderly. For such people it is recommended that, instead of the 2300mg recommended for the general population, they should restrict themselves to 1500mg of sodium per day (about two-thirds of a teaspoon).
The truth is - unless you have actually been given a death sentence by your doctor and you are actually looking death in the face, eyeball to eyeball (at which point your priorities tend to be somewhat differently arranged) aiming for a daily sodium intake of below 2400mg is difficult, but 1500mg or less is nothing if not impossible; at least in the USA.
I remember doing my grocery shopping one day and picking up a can of soup - I mean what could be more healthy than good old soup, chock full of beans, lean beef and more than half a day's helping of veggies?- to my utter shock and consternation, when I turned the can over to read the nutrition label it showed that the soup contained 740 whopping milligrams of sodium per cup! Now frantic and very worried, I began going through the contents of my shopping basket. My findings were discouraging. Except for the fruits, the item with the lowest sodium content per serving was my 'healthy', sprouted multi-grain bread. It had 150mg of sodium per slice! Even my plain (unsweetened) non-fat yogurt had a higher sodium value per serving. To think that all along I'd thought I was eating healthy (whatever that means).
That was the day I stopped asking 'why?' and started thinking 'how?'. How can those of us who have been identified as more susceptible to the effects of the high sodium foods being churned out daily by the food manufacturing companies, be helped to help ourselves? For me that is the most pressing question we need to answer. Right now it seems that the most definite solution is through the FDA enforcing restrictions on sodium content of foods; something which I'm glad to see they are actually beginning to make efforts to do.
For now the question of 'why' can wait. Unless perhaps I choose to get off my butt and do the research myself. Who knows? I just may.
Have you also considered that Black people, compared to most other ethnic groups of people in the cities of the United States of America tend to live in areas of poverty and lower socioeconomic neighborhoods? They tend to be less informed about food and healthier options of food in general compared to the majority of caucasians. They're usually unable to afford the wholesome nutritious foods that are offered at supermarkets such as Whole foods and Trader Joe's or other similar market stores. Also, most junk food and fast food restaurants tend to be overly saturated in areas populated by low-income or low socioeconomic people which tend to be more from the hispanic, latino, black and african american ethinc background and culture, more so than any other race.
ReplyDeleteWhen was the last time you saw a whole foods supermarket in the ghetto or a neighborhood populated mostly by black people? The retailers study these areas and decide that they will not make a profit since the majority of people living in the area are unable to afford the food. The push should be to get rid of the vast majority of fast food restaurants that seem to be over populating these neighborhoods and bring in markets with fresh produce and whole foods. Education also needs to be key because the mentality is that as long as the food is cheap, which is what they can afford, there are no other choices. Not knowing that in the long run the cheap food will cost more in terms of medical expenses and diseases from the lack of proper nutrients to feed their bodies.
There is currently a push to subsidize whole foods, fruits and vegetables in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods since the majority of residents in these areas, complain about the high cost of eating healthy. There also needs to be a push to drastically reduce the great numbers of fast food restaurants and take out places that have an excess amount of sodium and processed foods that are available for minimum cash compared to freshly prepared food.
Also African Americans suffer from other stress factors that are not taken into account, such as the everyday effects of discrimination and racism that they may experience due to living and working in a biased and unjust society. They may have to work 2 or 3 jobs just to survive and put food on the table compared to their white counterparts that have only one well paying job and less stress. Just something to ponder. What are your thoughts? :o)
@ Summa- you're doing a great job. For a 'scientific' blog, your writing is simple, interesting and entertaining. Good for laymen!
ReplyDelete@Candi- You made some really good points and I really hope that the initiative to subsidize organic foods work sooner than later. Healthy living aka long life, shouldn't be for a certain class of people.
Som, great job. Your write-up is thought provoking and entertaining at the same time. Keep it up. Please keep me informed on how to subscribe to the blog.
ReplyDelete@ chinnyugoji and Ifeyinwa - thanks so much for your kind comments. They mean a lot to me.
ReplyDelete@ Candi - I quite agree with you on many of the points you made. On the other hand I'm learning that "correlation" is NOT "causation", so even though granted, there is a disproportionate number of people of color who seem to be living in conditions that predispose them to overweight and its consequences, it still doesn't answer my question of WHY? Why would a black man be more salt sensitive that a white man of the same age and weight? Catch my drift?
The reason I seem to be so obsessed about the issue is that I'm convinced that if we can find out why, then we are better able to avoid the factors (if indeed they are factors that can be manipulated) and we are then halfway to solving the problem.
Summa: "Why would a black man be more salt sensitive than a white man of the same age...."
ReplyDeleteMe: My only thought (as I read your blog while drinking sodium-free Sprite zero) is that perhaps people of color waaaaaaaaaay back had the socioeconomic factors/stars aligned against them (like Candi pointed out)and were exposed to high-salt diets and then over time something somehow occured or changed within genetically that is being passed down???
@Chinnyugoji: Thanks for your comments. I truly believe that looking at the whole picture of lifestyle, income, class, diet, etc... will provide a bigger picture to the problem. Although it may not be a definitive answer to causation.
ReplyDeleteAlso thanks to the work of the first lady, Michelle Obama, we will soon see government helping to subsidize whole foods, fruits and vegetables in lower socioeconomic neighborhoods. Which is a great idea, since the gov't currently subsidizes cheap and unhealthy foods for poor people on welfare. These include a great amount of dairy products and cheese, which research has shown that most often people from the black race are lactose intolerant. So the subsidy for those types of foods are not really helping them and may in fact be correlated to some diseases and ailments that they suffer.
@Ifeoma: Lol! Very funny but it is something to think about...
@Summa: Thanks for your comments. BTW Great job on your very first blog. You put up some very thought provoking points and issues to be pondered and explored further.
Anyway....
I agree with you that my points are more correlated vs. causation, but I still think we should look at the entire picture since biochemistry and chemistry can be changed in a person just by experiencing undue stress for prolonged periods. This may cause an increase in such substances such as increased cortisol production, which has been correlated to have a significant increase in abdominal fat.
Also, I recently did some research in Cardiac rehab in the area of statins and how very effective they are at lowering cholesterol. However, we discovered the research shows that blacks do not respond very well to a specific type of statin known as Atorvastatin, (Brand name: Lipitor) but they do respond well to Rosuvastatin, (Brand name: Crestor). The same is true for whites, and why is this? No one knows for sure or has a definitive answer but we can speculate that it has to do with the difference in our genetic make up and biochemistry (similar to what Ifeoma inferred to previously). So yes, I agree more research needs to be done to find causation. But since so many factors and confounding factors may play a role, I think it may be hard to find one specific role without going back into genetics, biochemistry of our bodies and skin color etc... BTW if you watch TV, you will notice that often TV commercials show much more advertisements for Lipitor (Atorvastatin) which is more effective at lowering cholesterol in the white population vs. commercials for Crestor (Rosuvastatin) which is more helpful in the black population. So if lay people are not savvy to the research they may end up taking drugs that are relatively ineffective for them because of ignorance. Not only by themselves but many physicians do not know about this difference. It was through my research that I discovered this phenomena. So in conclusion, I believe more research will show that our biochemistry is more sensitive to salt and because of this we need to provide more education to people of color since they are affected more by this fact of increased sensitivity to sodium.
Nice post...but frankly not everything has an explanation..even those which may have might not have been discovered by Medical knowledge yet..!!! I guess that it is ok to ask..that's where research may help..BUT remember the answer may not be gotten....Nice write up anyway..keep it up..!!!!!!1
ReplyDeleteThought provoking write-up...it is important to note that there are two great determinants in scenarios of pathogenesis of medical disorders(genetic make-up & environment)..Unfortunately their effects are not mutually exclusive but highly interactive to varying degrees..There must be something to the 'blackman's genetic characteristics that predisposes him/her to salt sensitivity cum retention which l believe is fuelled by 'environment' which in this case is diet. If only the 'blackman' can handle and modulate the 'environment' angle vis a vis the risk he/she carries, then the outcome will be better. But will the blackman ??? I think we should handle the 'environment' angle by FLEEING from salt-laden foods so that we will be healthy enough to ask for the reason and research basis of the genetic disposition.
ReplyDelete