High blood pressure...?

On my homework today we were asked ,"If you eat 1/4th a cup of salt now, will your blood pressure show up high an hour later?"Well... instead of actually trying this out... I decided to get online and ask... does anyone know?
Answer:
1/4th of a cup of salt will simply kill you. It is too much of salt and your blood pressure will shoot up immediately. Please do not try this at all. It is just theory and let it remain a theory. Blood pressure has many reasons to shoot up. Primarily, more of NaCl will increase the BP, tensions and anxiety will also add to it. Lifestyle may affect BP, there are so many reasons why blood pressure shoots up suddenly. Most often, the increase in blood pressure is temporary, unless you actually suffer from hypertension.Essential hypertension is a complex problem because there is no obvious reason why the blood pressure is so high. Patients and doctors have to do some detective work to locate possible causes of high blood pressure. Here are some of the more common causes of high blood pressure: * Sedentary Lifestyle: Exercise helps maintain normal blood pressure, but few people get the amount of exercise they should to stay healthy.
* Smoking: That cigarette may relax a smoker, but it raises blood pressure, making the heart labor to maintain blood flow.
* Weight Gains: Extra weight increases blood pressure. Losing a few pounds is often the patient's first goal after being diagnosed with high blood pressure.
* Diet: Fats, cholesterol-rich foods and salt can all raise blood pressure.
* Alcohol: Heavy alcohol consumption has been linked to hypertension.
* Stress: Although stress is clearly related to elevated blood pressure, pinning down the cause of the stress may be difficult. What's stressful for one person may be relaxing for another. Determining stress sources and stress levels requires you to take a long, hard look at how you live your life. So what's the sodium-hypertension connection? Studies show that although going easy on salt and sodium will not prevent hypertension, it can lower blood pressure in those who have hypertension. In fact, even healthy people should watch their sodium intake. Here's the bottom line: nutrition experts recommend a healthful eating pattern moderate in sodium, a physical active lifestyle, and a healthy weight.Before you pick up the salt shaker, think about this - you weren't born with a love for salt. A new baby has four primary tastes - sweet, bitter, sour, and salty. A newborn will embrace sweet foods and reject sour or bitter, and can take or leave salty foods. To put it simply, if you are raised on salted foods, you will grow up thinking foods need to be salty to be tasty. Also, most of the sodium you consume comes from processed foods and foods eaten at restaurants.The good new is that you can "retrain" your taste buds. If you gradually decrease the sodium and salt in your diet, you'll find that your taste for salt declines, too. The less salt you consume, the less you'll want. By selecting lower sodium brands of foods and adding fruits and vegetables without adding salt, you can lower the sodium in your diet considerably. For added flavor, try using herbs, spices and salt-free seasoning blends. They're an easy, convenient way to add satisfying flavor to just about any recipe.

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No you will not show up as high blood pressure an hour later.

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DEFINITELY! Salt is a form of Sodium ion...Sodium does a number of things that will lead to a high blood pressure. It is the law that where sodium/salt is, the water follows. If there is abundance of salt in your system, there will be an increase in water too leading to edema or swelling. Swelling causes tightening of the blood vessels since its space is impinged by the swelling, this causes a higher pressure since it will be more difficult for the blood to pass through a tight vessel. Swelling of cells also causes hypervolemia meaning excessive volume/mass of blood in the body also making it harder for them to pass thru the vessels (may be due to crowding) leading to again a high BP. Sodium also activates the renin-angiotensin system which when activated causes further increase in blood pressure. So eating 1/4 cup of salt will not only increase your BP but it will also KILL you so it is a very good thing that you did not try it on yourself but instead posted your question here!

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