Boring Health Things

(The Blogger people were working on their stuff today and took this post off temporarily. I noticed the comments were gone, but I think that's all that changed.)

They finally wore me down.

My daughters and even Mike have been proclaiming the glories of agave nectar for months now. I didn't pay much attention to it at first. After all, it wasn't MY idea, was it? I picked up Elise's bottle when she was here last month and saw that it had 60 calories a tablespoon. Really!?

But then regular sugar has 45 calories a tablespoon.

I started thinking about my coffee. I use about 2 teaspoons of sugar in a cup of coffee (I guess - I don't measure), so that's 30 right there. No one would use a tablespoon of honey in coffee, maybe a quarter. So I gave in and bought some.

Emily had been recommending it this week too - natural, no chemicals like in the artificial stuff - which I can't make myself like anyway, I do drink Milo's or Publix tea with Splenda and love that though. Maybe I'll have to start making my on agave nectar tea.

The one cup of coffee I used it in was fine. It's sure more convenient - just pick up the bottle and squeeze.

If I ever cook anything that calls for sugar, I'll try it there too.

Speaking of reading labels, (I think I kind of alluded to that above), I now have to get serious about salt. Should have been all along, but it took a swollen ankle - twice - to get my attention.

My blood pressure was high at the doctor's office yesterday, which it sometimes is, but she told me I had to be on a blood pressure medication. I mentioned that I don't like taking medicine, and she mentioned that I probably wouldn't be real happy with a stroke either. She said not to take it personally - that a high percentage of people over 50 have to take an antihypertensive just because of aging arteries.

So here they are. If something like this saves my life, I'm all for it. Once a day. Small pills. Cheap. I didn't get them at Wal-Mart but found that I can get a 90-day supply there for $10.



Now, I'm studying the sodium count on all the things I like. I believe the normal sodium allowance by the American Heart Association is 2300 gm a day. Sounds like a lot, but there is so much hidden sodium in all the things I like. I've already cut down on diet colas. They only have 55 gm apiece, but I think I'm addicted to them. I'm now just having 1 every 3 or 4 days where before I would have 2 or 3 a day sometimes.

I've gone back to an old favorite - juice and club soda or tonic water. I can't find the white cranberry any more, so I'll go with this flavor. The juice still has 50 gm of sodium, but you get a bonus of vitamin C. It's a really good summer drink too, with the (sodium free) club soda making it fizzy.


So those are my health tips for the day - or maybe full of misinformation - I don't know. I'll see what works for me to get my blood pressure back down. I hate the whole no popcorn thing. I can do without sweets, but I love popcorn and chips as a snack.