As many of you know, we are honored to be frequent guests on Your World with Neil Cavuto. Neil is witty and always makes the segments so much fun– and there’s always something interesting that goes on with him behind the scenes. This appearance was no exception (see the bottom of this blog for a full explanation and for the real reason we brought Neil the carrots!)!
The Nutriton Twins on Cavuto from Tammy Shames on Vimeo.
Here are a few things that we planned to tell Neil about salt’s effect on the body and why we’d be thrilled if the proposed legislation to put a “salt shaker” symbol next to menu items at chain restaurants that have a full day’s worth of sodium become mandatory. Plus, our clients and other diners will be more confident in their dining choices when they are made aware of the options that are the highest in sodium!
We’d let Neil know that salt:
- raises risk of heart disease
- increases risk of heart attack & stroke. (High blood pressure is a leading cause of cardiovascular disease. It accounts for two-thirds of all strokes and half of heart disease.)
- makes every inflammatory condition worse—so if you have arthritis, salt will ultimately put more pressure on the joints
- …and this is just the beginning!
Other important points:
- The body likes salt in a certain concentration, and when we get too much salt, our body responds by trying to dilute the salt.
- So we hold on to water to dilute it. We become a bigger person- as we hold on to salt/water, blood volume increases and we start to swell.
- As our blood volume increases, our heart has to pump harder to keep it moving through our veins and arteries, leading to high blood pressure.
- Over time, the extra work and pressure can stiffen blood vessels, also leading to high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke… (Check out these Salt Stand-Ins and a few of our Flushing Drinks, and Detox Drinks which help to counteract salt and flush bloat).
And we’d also tell him that those who aren’t motivated to cut salt for their health can be motivated by their vanity:
When you eat salt, you become bigger and more bloated—and we’re right in the heart of beach season. NO one wants that. So seeing this salt shaker on the menu may be a good reminder to help to steer clear of certain foods!
- Most people don’t want to leave a restaurant feeling bloated and knowing they’ll have puffy bags under their eyes.
But there’s good news! (this is where the carrots that we brought Neil come in!):
For everything salt does to the body, potassium does the equal and opposite things!
High salt intake increases blood pressure, which can lead to heart disease, while high potassium intake can help relax blood vessels and excrete the sodium and decrease blood pressure!
- Simply eat more fresh vegetables and fruits! These are naturally high in potassium and low in sodium—and eat less bread, cheese, and processed meat, as these and other processed foods are high in sodium and low in potassium–and be healthier AND less bloated! 🙂
#1 Eating out Rule we give our clients: Have a veggie pre-meal before going to dinner–or on your way there. Veggies fill you up with nutrients, like potassium, fiber and very few calories. You’ll avoid arriving at the meal ravenous, be able to make a rationale decision about what you’ll eat…and you’ll eat less of the heavy stuff. Plus, you’ll have an edge against sodium”
So after giving Neil this information, we didn’t want to send him out to the wolves for dinner without giving him carrots to help fight sodium and prevent overeating! So that’s why we brought them!
For more healthy dining out tips check out these:
4 Ways To Prevent Social Eating From Getting The Best of Your Waistline
As for the commotion right before we went live on air…
Just as we hear the the producer say “…and you’re LIVE in 3, 2, 1…”. We hear a loud SPLAT! Yep, the big bag of carrots on Lyssie’s lap hit the floor like lead… and as Lyssie struggled to pick them up off the ground without the camera noticing the disappearing act of one of The Nutrition Twins, Tammy frantically repeated several times, “hurry, hurry, we’re live, pick them up, pick them up, hurry!!
So Neil, being the pro that he is, was able to keep the conversation on him for a moment longer so that the camera would be on him! And that’s where you’ll see the video.
If you’re wondering why we snuck the carrots onto the set in the first place was so that Neil couldn’t see them and ask about them before we got to explain why they were there. So Lyssie set them on the chair beside her, so they were hidden under the black table. She would have placed them on her lap but they were a bit cold and wet, so she tried to fit them on the chair–she had to hang off the chair to fit the carrots on. Apparently, the carrots were hanging off the chair, too- oy! 🙂
The video shows segment –starting with the scene immediately following the carrots smashing on the floor… below the video you’ll see how we envisioned it going down:
Psst…we never got to tell Neil the real reason we brought him the carrots!
