Healthy lifestyle tips by PM Drew- Know his advice for better well-being

St Kitts and Nevis: Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew shared a health tip with residents of St Kitts and Nevis titling it as “Health Tip Monday” where he discussed the consequences of high sodium intake and urged the netizens to reduce or minimize their sodium intake to avoid any diseases in future.  

While sharing the health tip, the Prime Minister ended his conversation with an open end for citizens to speak up and share their examples and opinions in the comments. In his post, PM Drew stated that everyone should reduce their high sodium intake as it leads to high blood pressure, strokes and becomes the reason for different heart related diseases.  

He further emphasized that intake of sodium could be controlled by lowering salt intake, canned foods, processed foods and salted meats.

“We can do this by reducing our intake of salt, canned foods, processed foods, and salted meats. Please share your examples in the comments. Towards a healthier St. Kitts and Nevis,” the Prime Minister ended his post with an emphasis on creating a healthier nation.

Sodium is a necessary nutrient or electrolyte in the human body, which plays a vital role in maintaining fluid balance which is important for nerve function and muscle contractions. It helps regulate the amount of water in the body, and transmits nerve signals, which further allows an easy muscle contraction or relaxation.  

However, an increase in sodium levels in our body affects the natural equilibrium of fluids in our body, leading to an increase in blood volume and pressure, which potentially becomes the reason for high blood pressure and other heart related diseases. A high sodium level has a potential damaging effect on the kidneys, as the function of a kidney is to filter out excess sodium and water from the body. An excess of sodium can put strain on the kidneys, which could ultimately lead to their failure.  

Under Prime Minister Drew’s post, netizens also discussed the potential side effects of high sodium levels in human body.  

A user named Tee Liburd discussed the impact of food habits that affect our modern lifestyle and cited it as one of the biggest challenges. “One of the biggest challenges we face today is the consumption of foods which contribute to ill health. People who are so used to consuming unhealthy foods will ultimately find it challenging to address their behaviours until it's too late. There needs to be a concerted effort by everyone involved in promoting healthy eating to reduce the consumption of these unhealthy foods. It's a generational issue and unaddressed will continue to contribute to conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, weight gain and so on. Governments across the world have to take responsibility otherwise this will be the next pandemic. If we care about future generations action needs to be taken NOW.”