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Diet For Hypertension
By adopting new habits in your diet, you can keep your blood pressure in control. These changes could be counting calories, and watching portion sizes. By following some diet measures, you may be able to lower your blood pressure and reduce the medications you need to control high blood pressure. Here is the diet for hypertension.
Avoid salt
A high sodium diet is a reason for increased blood pressure in many people. Sodium is found in salt, some people like salty food. But the less sodium you eat, the better blood pressure control you might have. To lower the sodium level in your diet you can keep a food diary to keep track of the salt in the foods you eat.
You are supposed to eat less than 2300 milligrams that are about 1 teaspoon of salt each day. But for some high blood pressure might need to go lower to 1500 milligrams. You can successfully achieve this target by reading the nutritional facts label on every food package. Select foods that have 5% or less of the ‘daily value” of sodium.
Also avoid canned foods, processed foods, lunch meats, and fast foods, and most important salt-seasoning.
Cut down on sugar and refined carbohydrates
As discussed in previous courses, a low-carb diet, and restricting refined or bad carbohydrates can help you lose weight and lower your blood pressure. Several studies with over 10,000 participants suggest that a low-carb diet is much more effective in lowering blood pressure, compared to a low-fat diet. The low-carb diet helped lower blood pressure by 4.5 mm Hg diastolic and 5.9 mm Hg systolic. Another benefit of a low-carb diet is that you feel fuller longer because you’re consuming more protein and fat. Therefore, you eat less and lose weight.
Track what you eat
Some people are unaware of how many calories they are eating in a whole day. They may eat high-calorie content food items, and wonder why they can’t lose weight.
It’s important to know how much you are eating but it’s even more important to know what you are eating. You can keep a track of your daily calorie count by writing it down. And then make changes accordingly. If you are obese, cutting calories and portions will help in losing weight and manage blood pressure.
Know what to eat
You can eat fruits and vegetables that are high in potassium, magnesium, and fiber as they may help control blood pressure. And these are low in sodium. Fruits and vegetables are packed with fibers which are helpful in losing weight and improving overall health. Try to stick to whole fruits and vegetables and avoid juices. As juices lose fibers in the process. Nuts, seeds, legumes, lean meats, and poultry are also good sources of magnesium.
You can eat the following fruits-
- apples
- apricots
- bananas
- beet greens
- broccoli
- carrots
- collards
- green beans
- dates
- grapes
- green peas
- kale
- lima beans
- mangoes
- melons
- oranges
- peaches
- pineapples
- potatoes
- raisins
- spinach
- squash
- strawberries
- sweet potatoes
- tangerines
- tomatoes
- tuna
- yogurt (fat-free)
What not to eat
Foods that are high in sodium should be avoided. Most of the sodium-rich foods are packaged foods. The foods that are high in sodium are major contributors to people’s daily salt intake. These are-
- Bread and rolls
- Pizza
- Sandwiches
- Cold cuts and cured meats
- Soup
- Burritos and tacos
- Canned soups
- Pickel
- Canned tomato products
- Sugar
Serving size
Before following a healthy eating plan, it is important to know how much of a certain kind of food is considered a serving. One serving is-
- ½ cup of cooked rice or pasta
- 1 slice bread
- 1 cup raw vegetables or fruit
- ½ cup cooked veggies
- 8 ounces of milk
- 1 teaspoon of olive oil
- 3 ounces cooked meat
Eating right can help you more than you can imagine. If you follow a low sodium, low-carb diet, it will help you treat blood pressure in the long term. So, these are the diet tips that you can follow and live a healthy life.
Dash Diet For Hypertension
If you are suffering from hypertension, one of the important steps your doctor will ask you to take is to start following the DASH diet. Dash stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. Another diet for lowering high blood pressure is the DASH sodium diet- this diet is exactly like the DASH diet except sodium is cut down to 1500 milligrams a day. These diets are helpful in lowering blood pressure.
DASH diet- It calls for a certain number of servings daily from various food groups. The number of servings you require may vary, depending on how many calories you need in a day. You will likely experience low blood pressure on the dash diet whether or not you lose weight. It is a gradual change. You can start slowly by limiting yourself to 2,400 milligrams that are about 1 teaspoon of sodium per day. Then when your body has adjusted to the diet, cut back to 1500 milligrams of sodium, that is ⅔ teaspoons per day.
Benefits Of The DASH Diet For Hypertension
Dash diet has potential benefits of lowering blood pressure, some people follow the DASH diet to reduce weight. This diet does not guarantee weight loss, but everyone who has followed it has seen some reduction in their blood pressure. Normal blood pressure for adults is below 120/80 mmHg. In studies, people on the DASH diet have experienced weight loss, but only when sodium intake was restricted, the Dash diet lowered the blood pressure even further.
Along with this, the DASH diet also reduces blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. So, if you have diabetes and blood pressure, this diet will help you in lowering blood sugar and blood pressure. DASH diet is simple, you just need to include-
- More fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products
- Cut back on foods that are high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and trans fat
- Eat more whole-grain foods
- Eat fish, poultry
- Limit sodium, sweets, sugary drinks
How you can start the DASH diet?
- Add a serving of vegetables at lunch and dinner.
- Add a serving of fruit to your meals or as a snack
- Use only half of your typical serving of butter or salad dressing.
- Make some meals vegetarian, limit meat consumption.
- Add dry beans to your diet.
- Eat unsalted nuts, raisins, low-fat yogurt, and raw vegetables instead of chips or sweets, for your snacks.
Recipes For DASH Diet
Breakfast
In breakfast, you can eat-
- 2 boiled eggs + ½ cup baked beans + ½ cup fresh orange juice
- 1cup Oatmeal + 1 cup skim milk + 2 tbsp mixed seeds
- 2 slices whole-wheat toast + 1 tbsp jelly or jam
Preparation- All of these recipes are very simple and basic. You just need to either boil these food items like egg, oats, and milk. Or consume them raw like jam and juice.
Mid Morning
- 2 Hard-boiled eggs
- 1 bowl oats with berries
- Peeled carrots
After 2-3 hours of breakfast, if you feel hungry you can just boil 2 eggs in a pan for 5-8 minutes. Or just serve yourself some well-washed carrots. Or you can just put oats in a bowl with berries as toppings.
Lunch
- 85gm lean chicken breast + 1 cup brown rice
- Grilled turkey + low-fat cheese + green salad
- Tuna salad + boiled eggs + 2tsp low-fat dressing
Your lunch meal can include meat or rice which has low carbohydrates. Remember the point of this diet is to lose weight as well.
The recipe for Tuna salad- The ingredients needed to make this salad is-
- canned solid white albacore tuna (in water)
- mayonnaise
- celery
- red onion (or sub white)
- capers or dill pickles
- lemon juice
- parsley (use dried if needed 1 Tbsp)
- salt and pepper
- garlic (add a few pinches dried if that’s what you have)
- Now chop all tuna veggies, drain tuna well, and mix all of them well in a bowl. You can add tuna dressing as well.
Evening Snack
- Pretzels with peanut butter
- Quinoa stuffed bell peppers
- Fruit greek yogurt
Dinner
- Spaghetti and meatballs + green peas + minced turkey
- Pork steak + brown rice + lentils
- Cod fillet + mashed potatoes + ½ cup broccoli
For dinner, try to keep the diet light. Have some mashed potatoes or brown rice.
You have to be consistent while following this diet for the best outcomes.
A Word From Mantra Care
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