My neighbor has high blood pressure and can't afford his blood-pressure
medications.  We suggested he cook without salt, and fed him two microwaved
potatoes with olive oil as a starter.  He likes cooking and will try other
suggestions.  What could he flavor foods with instead of salt?  He gets
heartburn from lemon juice, he says.  He thought vinegar had salt in it..
We are offering a bread machine. 

17 responses total.

A low sodium diet will help. But I would add that potassium and vitamin
C are important dietary nutrients that people with hypertension need.
Also, hypertension is linked to obesity as the added body weight
constricts blood vessels and raises pressure.

You need to know whether your neighbor has high blood pressure that responds
to salt intake.  There are two kinds, and in one kind salt intake has no
effect on the blood pressure.  

There are many salt substitutes, some of which are spices and herbs, and some
of which are potassium chloride.  You really need a much more detailed data
set about blood chemistry to know what foods might help or harm.  If there
is any insulin-resistance involved, bread is exactly the wrong thing to add
into his diet.

He is also diabetic and should be taking medication for that too.  He does
not understand these things.  I am supposed to help get him info about his
new county health plan, whether it includes drugs.  Anyone know?

Diabetes is an insulin-related disease that is often treated by severely
limiting carbohydrate intake, including complex carbohydrates like whole
grains and beans that are not a problem for people with normal insulin
production.  

His doctor really, really needs to give him guidance on the proper diet
measures to take.

In the meantime, can anyone suggest what he might cook without salt, while
he waits for his new health card to arrive in 10 days, and I call to find out
if it covers blood-pressure medication?

He is not taking insulin, it is mild diabetes and I think he takes some sort
of pill for it.  Sometimes he can't afford those either.  I am trying to find
him work - does anyone want any yardwork, housecleaning, snow removal...?

Sindi, check his medications.  There are oral forms of insulin, and he may
be tryng to keep the balance by watching carb intake along with insulin.

If he has mild diabetes he is probably supposed to be taking Metformin.  We
pay $17.50 for 180 pills, a 90 day supply at 2/day (STeve takes 2/day, I take
1/day).  That is below our prescription co-pay.  I have heard rumors that
Kmart and WalMart do generic drugs at somewhat less than that.

I just lent him $15 to fill a prescription of something for diabetes at
half-price (with his county health plan number), from Village Pharmacy (plus
$1 for the bus).  Where do you get yours?  He will be paid Friday and pay me
back then, instead of waiting until then to buy the drugs.  

Unfortunatley for him, we get ours at the Olin Health Center Pharmacy on the
MSU campus.  That is why I brought up the possibility of Kmart or Walmart.
Meijer is also filling anti-biotic prescriptions for free.

resp:9 I thought the Meijer antibiotic thing was for children only?

I am not sure, I didn't check on it.  The sign that I saw on the door said
"Free Antibiotics", I didn't notice any qualifiers.

It's for everyone.  There's a list of 4-6 antibiotics that they will not
charge you for.  

Penicillin is probably cheap enough by now that they can afford to do this.
I also suggested my neighbor check K-Mart.  But Village Corner gave us better
prices one time, by suggesting we buy 50 10mg instead of 10 50mg pills, since
the smaller ones were much cheaper because they sell more of them or
something.  And they seem very patient and friendly.  Perhaps my neighbor
could mail-order his pills some place in 3-month amounts.

Tell him to check out both the Ornish and McDougall plans.  There is
clinical evidence that both of them reverse the effects of heart disease
and can reduce the need for medication for diabetics.  McDougall has a
more extensive web site with all the info about his plan available,
along with an e-newsletter and discussion forum.  There are also a
number of McDougall cookbooks.  I recommend the _Quick and Easy_ one for
starters.

http://www.drmcdougall.com/

This is someone who is unlikely to make any big changes to what he eats so
we are suggesting just small ones.  He likes southern cooking, fried foods,
lots of meat.  We give him turnip greens sometimes.  But I will ask him if
he wants me to check out those sites and summarize them for him.  (He is not
on the internet and I don't think would understand too much of those sites
either).    Could you give me a very brief idea of what is there?

McDougall advocates a strict vegan diet without oil.  He worked in
Hawaii for a while after he was out of med school and noticed that the
children of Asian immigrants there were getting all the diseases common
in the West -- heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, arthritis,
etc etc -- while the parents stayed very healthy into old age.  He
studied what both groups ate, since that was the biggest difference
between the two, and developed his plan from there.

If your neighbor is unlikely to give up his Kentucky-fried diet, then I
doubt McDougall has anything that will interest him.

I agree, he is unlikely to make any large changes.  Jim and I eat more like
you summarized and don't have diabetes or heart problems.

Response not possible - You must register and login before posting.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss