High blood pressure, or hypertension, occurs when the force of the blood against the artery walls is too high. In fact, the number of people living with hypertension is predicted to be 1.56 billion worldwide by the year 2025. Although many individuals nervously resort to prescribed medication to combat this chronic disease, adopting DASH—Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension—can help reduce this condition, and ultimately, the need for pills.
To combat high blood pressure, health care providers recommend the DASH diet because it emphasizes portion size, eating a variety of foods, and getting the right amount of nutrients. The diet focuses on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and other foods that are heart healthy and low in fat, cholesterol, and salt. As a 2000-calorie-a-day diet, the DASH meal plan advises six to eight daily servings of grains. Baked potatoes, for instance, are high in both potassium and magnesium, two important minerals that can help fight hypertension. Additionally, the DASH diet recommends consuming four to five daily servings of fruit. Eating a cup of strawberries or blueberries once a week may help reduce high blood pressure, as the fruits contain natural compounds called anthocyanins, which protect against hypertension, according to a research study that appeared in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
The food we eat plays a huge role in our health and wellbeing. You really are what you eat!
Image Source: Caiaimage/Paul Bradbury
This heart-healthy diet greatly stresses a reduction of sodium intake, as it can alleviate hypertension and its associated health effects. Found mainly in the form of salt, sodium increases blood pressure because it holds excess fluid in the body, placing an added burden on the heart. Both the DASH diet and American Heart Association recommend the “shaking the salt habit” by consuming fewer than 1500 milligrams of sodium a day. This lower sodium intake is appropriate for people with greater salt sensitivity, including anyone age 51 or older, African Americans, and people diagnosed with diabetes or chronic kidney disease. The diet’s focus on reducing sodium intake, along with its other recommendations of choosing foods rich in fiber, protein, and calcium, can help prevent osteoporosis, cancer, heart disease, and stroke.
Although high blood pressure will continue to perpetuate, it’s certainly important to adopt healthier diets. Neglectful treatment of hypertension can lead to other detrimental diseases and illnesses that can potentially yield death. Aside from reducing sodium intake and consuming heart-healthy foods, people should speak to their healthcare provider and construct manageable lifestyles that are tailored to their health needs.
