Bid Goodbye To Hypertension With This One Type Of Food
Blood pressure is one of the common causes of a visit to the doctor nowadays. However, it does not come as a surprise to anyone given the kind of hectic and stressful life that most of us are leading. Along with this, our increasing dependence on processed food does not help our case either.
So, what exactly is blood pressure?
Blood pressure, also known as arterial tension refers to the pressure at which blood flows through our arteries. Blood pressure is humans is not measured in one but two values, which comprises of maximum and a minimum pressure of blood. The first measurement is called systolic blood pressure, whereas the second measurement is called diastolic blood pressure. In order to consider the blood pressure normal, this measurement should be less than or equal to 120/80. If this measurement exceeds 140/90, it is classified as high blood pressure and if this value reaches 180/20 or above, it indicates severe hypertension.
It is important to understand that significance of having healthy blood pressure. With hypertension, the body is at an increased risk of heart attacks, kidney failure and strokes.
Change your diet a little to maintain optimum blood pressure
The American Heart Association recommends the consumption of food containing more potassium and less salt, which means eating lots of fruits and vegetables, along with whole grains and lean proteins in case you want a cure against high blood pressure. American Heart Association also recommends limiting the sodium intake for each day to less than 1500 mg.
It is also advisable to consume plant-based food items that include spinach, broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, tomato sauce, beet greens along with starchy vegetables like lentils, soybeans and potatoes. People should also consume fruits like banana, oranges, apricot and dried fruits like date, raisins and prunes in order to sustain a healthy potassium and salt ratio in their bodies.
The DASH Diet
DASH or Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension Diet is just as the name suggests. It combines a number of daily servings from various types of food that are beneficial for controlling high blood pressure. The number of these daily servings may differ as per the personal need of calories for each person.
People can train their bodies slowly to adapt to a lower sodium intake until they reach the limit of consuming only 1500 mg of sodium per day. It should be noted that this limit includes everything that a person consumes in a day including home-cooked meals or a pack of chips, etc.
Tips for this diet
- People should consume vegetables at lunch and dinners.
- Switch to fruits for snacks or include them in your daily meals.
- If you are eating salad, remember to use only half the amount of butter or any salad dressing that you usually use
- If you are adding condiments to your salad, look for low-fat or fat-free condiments.
- Use low-fat or skim dairy products instead of full cream.
- Consume only 6 ounces of meat per day.
- Make the addition of dry beans and vegetables in your food.
- You can shift from eating chips or chocolates for a snack to eating unsalted nuts, dried fruits or yoghurt.
- Buy and consume food products that are lower in sodium.
Another factor to lower your blood pressure
Keep an account of your alcohol consumption
Even though the researches do not establish a direct link between high blood pressure and alcohol consumption, it can easily lead to weight gain which ultimately affects the blood pressure. In fact, research claims that each half to one kilogram of weight loss can contribute to blood pressure being lowered by 1mmHg.