Adding potassium, eating more green vegetables, reducing sugar, and limiting alcohol and calories can help reduce medication use in people with high blood pressure, and even prevent the disease.
Older age is a risk factor for hypertension. More than half of middle-aged people suffer from this disease. The right diet can help reduce the risk and reverse worrying increases in blood pressure.
Emily Gier, associate professor of nutritional science at Cornell University in Ithaca (USA), said the diet does not cause side effects like some medications. Doctors often recommend reducing the amount of salt in the diet. On average, Americans consume about 3,400 mg of salt per day. According to the Nutritional Guidelines for Americans (DGA), each day you should consume less than 2,300 mg, equivalent to one teaspoon of table salt. The American Heart Association recommends ideally no more than 1,500 mg of salt per day.
Cutting back on salt can have positive results. For example, cutting from 5,000 mg a day to about 1,300 mg reduced systolic blood pressure (top blood pressure) by an average of 8 points and diastolic blood pressure (bottom blood pressure) by about 3 points, according to a study last year in the medical journal JAMA.
However, reducing salt in the diet is not easy. Most salt comes from pre-packaged foods and restaurant dishes such as pizza, sandwiches, cold cuts, bread, soup, chips, cookies, etc. Even if the ideal sodium level is not achieved, apply a The following methods can significantly reduce blood pressure:
Hyperkalemia
Increasing potassium intake is an important part of blood pressure management. According to Associate Professor Swapnil Hiremath, University of Ottawa (Canada), when potassium intake increases, the kidneys will work more effectively in excreting salt. Consuming more potassium helps eliminate sodium from the diet.
A study in a medical journal BMJ in 2013 with nearly 129,000 participants found that hypertensive people who consumed between 3,500 mg and 4,700 mg of potassium per day reduced their systolic blood pressure by an average of 5.32 points and diastolic blood pressure by 3.1 points.
Foods rich in potassium can help control blood pressure. Image: Washington Post
To maintain potassium levels, eat plenty of green vegetables, whole grains, beans, and fruits and nuts. Good sources of potassium include potatoes (895 mg per small, baked, skinless potato), lentils (731 mg cooked), pumpkin (582 mg cooked), prunes (556 mg in 10 prunes), and bananas (411 mg in an average banana).
Cut down on alcohol
The notion that alcohol protects the heart is no longer accurate. An article from the International Society of Hypertension (ISH) in the journal Journal of Hypertension 2023 recommends avoiding excessive drinking and ideally not drinking alcohol at all. There is a significant link between increased alcohol consumption and increased blood pressure.
It should be limited to 1-2 units per day (each unit is equivalent to 1.5 glasses of wine, a can of beer or a glass of spirits. According to Hiremath, there is no safe level of alcohol consumption to prevent high blood pressure and adverse cardiovascular problems.
Increase fiber
Whole grains, fruits, vegetables, seeds and beans are high in fiber – a type of carbohydrate that the body cannot completely break down or absorb. Research in journals The Lancet 2019 found that people who ate 25 to 29 g of fiber per day had a 15 to 30% lower risk of dying from heart disease or stroke than those consuming less than 15 g. Higher fiber intake may provide even more health benefits.
For people with high blood pressure, a review of 15 studies in the journal BMC Medicine 2022 found that for every 5 g increase in fiber per day, both systolic and diastolic blood pressure dropped by about 2 points. Some high-fiber foods include black beans (18 g), other beans, avocados (9 g average per pod), bulgur wheat (9 g), raspberries (8 g), pears (5.5 g average per pod), and oatmeal (4 g).
Reduce sugar
Refined sugar is linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure, weight gain, insulin resistance and high cholesterol, according to the International Society of Hypertension. In a study in the journal Nutrients In 2019, researchers estimated that reducing daily sugar intake from about 9 teaspoons (36 g) to less than 7 teaspoons (28 g) could reduce systolic blood pressure by 8.4 points and diastolic blood pressure by 3.7 points in older women.
The American Heart Association recommends limiting your daily intake of added sugar to 25 to 36 grams. Sugary drinks, such as soft drinks and many sweetened teas and coffees, are huge sources of added sugar. Studies show that sugary drinks have a greater impact on blood pressure than sugary foods, and even just one glass a day can be harmful.
Track calories to control weight
Making the above dietary changes will help increase beneficial nutrients in your diet, while reducing calories with no nutritional value, saturated fat from animal fats and sodium. This may help with weight loss. Losing about 3 to 5 kg for those who need to lose weight can also positively affect blood pressure.