High blood pressure or hypertension is caused by a variety of factors including family history, sodium intake, hormones and dietary choices. Hypertension is characterized by an increase in the pressure of the blood on the walls of the arteries. The DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, is a dietary plan that is recommended for people looking to lower their blood pressure without medication.
The DASH diet, like other diet plans for lowering blood pressure, is low sodium and stresses the consumption of fruits, vegetables, grains, lean meats, and low fat dairy. Making changes in diet is highly effective in lowering blood pressure in patients with mild to moderate hypertension and is also effective at increasing the response to medications that will help to lower blood pressure. Eating a diet high in lean meats, fruits, vegetables, grains and low fat dairy will also help with weight loss and to lower cholesterol. Eating a diet consisting of such foods is good for anyone, not just people suffering from hypertension.
Two major risk factors for high blood pressure are dietary sodium intake and weight. If you are overweight for your height, it is advisable to lose weight to lower blood pressure. By choosing foods for weight loss, you will also be keeping your sodium levels in a good place.
Lean meats such as grilled chicken and turkey without the skin, sirloin steak or fresh fish are a great way to meet your daily recommended protein intake without elevating blood pressure. Low-fat dairy products like skim milk, non-fat yogurt, or low-fat cottage cheese are good in moderate portions. Breads, English muffins and cereals that are low in sodium are also good choices. Fruits and vegetables are great additions to your diet but try to avoid canned vegetables with added sodium. Spices such as parsley, onion power, and oregano are a great way to spice up your lean meat without adding salt.
Foods that cause blood pressure to increase are smoked meats such as bologna, bacon and hotdogs. Cheese is generally very high in sodium and should be avoided along with canned fish like tuna and salmon. Snack crisps, crackers, chips and pretzels are loaded with sodium. Canned soup (unless they specifically say low sodium) should be avoided, as should canned vegetables that similarly do not say low sodium. Pickled foods, ketchup, barbecue sauce and soy sauce are all guilty of lowering blood pressure.
Bananas are a great choice when it comes to fruit because the potassium in them works with sodium to keep fluids balanced. The Omega 3 fatty acids found in fish such as salmon are very effective at lowering blood pressure. Avoiding meat, added salt and sugar and consuming fresh fruits and vegetables at regular intervals has been showing to lower blood pressure.
By adjusting your diet, you can avoid blood pressure medications which tend to have unpleasant side effects – eat food that lower blood pressure.