Use the DASH Diet to Lower High Blood Pressure

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==== ==== How to lower blood pressure & cholesterol - Heart Health Made Easy http://t.co/q290Peve ==== ====

A diet that is good for high blood pressure is one that reverses the negative impact of the typical American diet that most people eat today. Thanks to our love affair with salt, commercial fryers and red meat, our diet promotes excessive oxidation in the blood stream which in turns causes, among other things, plaque build up and a hardening of the arteries. These two conditions lessen the diameter of the arteries requiring the heart to pump harder to push the blood through a smaller space. The best diet for high blood pressure is one that provides potassium, calcium, magnesium, antioxidants and vasodilators. Foods with these qualities can reverse the damage done by our existing diet. So what is this magic diet? It's known as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension or DASH and it's recommended by a slew of professional organizations including the American Heart Association. What makes this diet unique is that the authors understand that Americans are not going to eliminate their favorite foods overnight. So, when you have red meat and the saturated fat that goes with it, you can balance those bad effects with foods from the diet. In other words, it is not a fad diet but a balanced approach to nutrition. It wasn't designed as a weight loss diet but if you are overweight you will probably lose pounds and that's another key to controlling high blood pressure. Foods on the DASH diet include:

Whole Grains. Bread, pasta, rice and cereal are a great source of energy and fiber.

Vegetables. Preferably fresh but frozen is an OK substitute. These foods are a major source of potassium, magnesium and fiber.

Lean Meats. Red meat with the fat trimmed, poultry without skin and fish provide protein and


magnesium.

Nuts, Seeds and Legumes. Five servings a week provide protein, fiber and magnesium.

Fats and Oils. The DASH diet limits these foods to no more than 27% of your total daily caloric intake. This is the part that's tough if you are addicted to fast food.

Sweets and Added Sugar. DASH limits this to 5 servings per week. Some sweets like dark chocolate and cocoa are actually good for controlling blood pressure. You can Google DASH diet and go to the National Institute of Health web site where you can get the full nutritional facts and about a dozen really boring recipes. Go to EatWell.com and see how tasty this diet can be if you use a little imagination in the recipe. HBP is reversible and diet plays a major role. Don't try to switch all at once. Just pick the items that are easy for you to add or substitute in your diet. Your heart will thank you.

So now you know you have this opportunity, what do you do next. Where do you start? There is so much to know. It's all out there on the internet. Google "cure high blood pressure" and you'll get 13.2 million returns. Good luck with that. How would you like a step by step guide that is specific and concise on how to manage diet, exercise and stress. If this sounds like the right resource for you then please visit my site at http://mynaturalcures.info If you are a woman over 40, then you really need to read this article.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rachel_Willson

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How to lower blood pressure & cholesterol - Heart Health Made Easy http://t.co/q290Peve ==== ====


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