High Blood Pressure Diet Guidelines
It is a well-known fact that heart diseases and excess body weight
are related. Obesity, heavy alcohol consumption and lack of
activity are the main factors causing high blood pressure. Too much
body fat leads to an increased risk of health problems through
clogging the blood vessels with cholesterol. That is why the
successful treatment of high blood pressure starts with following a
diet specifically aimed at reducing high blood pressure.
If you already have high blood pressure, you cannot reverse it to
low permanently. Instead, you can control your high blood pressure
by taking a prescribed medication and amending your diet. Research
has shown that a high blood pressure diet can effectively prevent
blood pressure from rising above normal.
Today, most of our meals still contain more fat than the government
recommends, and most of the vending machines and fast-food options
do not meet the nutritional standards set by the U.S. government.
With fast-food snacks available at every corner, it's often hard to
switch to a healthy diet.
High blood pressure diets are designed to decrease sodium, increase
potassium, and lessen calories. This way you will maintain a
reasonable weight. This diet consists of foods that are delicious
and low in fat such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat
dairy products and lean proteins.
Here are some simple tips to help you follow your high blood
pressure diet guidelines:
1. Make sure you eat a healthy breakfast. Eating in the morning
will increase your energy and will help you avoid snacks before
lunch. A quick breakfast can be as easy as a bowl of cereal, a
slice of whole-wheat toast, cereal bar or fresh fruit.
2. When following your high blood pressure diet, your daily food
intake must include foods from five food groups:
• Protein: Eat meats that are lower in fat, such as chicken,
turkey, tuna, or low-fat luncheon meats. Make salads with a low fat
meat or vegetables and light salad dressing.
• Grains: Always try eating a whole wheat version of your favorite
bread, be it a loaf, a bagel or a roll.
• Vegetables: Eat tomatoes, peppers, baby carrots and other
colorful vegetables as many as you like. The brighter the
vegetable, the more antioxidant vitamin A it contains.
• Fruits: Fruits should be eaten fresh. Fruit has fiber and healthy
calories, and you will want to eat less during the day. Juice has
fructose which fills up with energy. That’s why juice should become
a part of a healthy breakfast along with a cereal.
• Dairy: Try low-fat or non-fat milk, non-fat chocolate milk, and
low-fat cheese. Basically, any type of cottage cheese or yogurt
goes well with fruit.
If you want to avoid facing complicated and often life-threatening
consequences of high blood pressure, you may want to ensure that
you and your family eat healthy meals that don’t pack on the pounds
and rise your cholesterol.
Emphasizing healthy food choices can help you enjoy your meals
without excessive fat, sugar, and calories. Healthy food choices
can be a carry-over from healthy menu and meal planning at home
while managing your high blood pressure with diet.
Switching to a diet without excessive fat and salt and staying fit
will help you loose weight and can help prevent or at least delay
heart-related problems. Along with monitoring and medication
treatment, a high blood pressure diet can help control your blood
pressure and reduce your risk of stroke, kidney and heart failure
and heart attack.
See your doctor before making any diet or lifestyle changes.
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