High blood pressure is a deadly enemy of people’s health. Therefore, today we will explain how to control it with diet.

Hypertension is one of the most common health conditions in 21st century society. It is a condition that, to a large extent, is influenced by food. Therefore, it can also work to control hypertension.

The food we consume determines the functioning of our entire body. This means that  with an adequate diet we can improve our health .

Today we will tell you how to use your daily diet as an ally to control hypertension.

Control Hypertension

High blood pressure is a health condition that is characterized by high blood pressure.

High blood pressure, as demonstrated by the diversity of scientific research, is the main risk factor for cardiovascular diseases.

In addition, hypertension is directly related to coronary heart disease, heart failure, cerebrovascular accidents (CVA), kidney failure and other heart diseases.

Hence the importance of avoiding it, as well as controlling hypertension when it is already suffering, since it puts our health and our lives at serious risk.

The diet

In addition to the benefits of a healthy diet to lose weight, what you eat daily can help you control high blood pressure.

However, we must remind you that the information that we offer in this article is general. The first and most important recommendation that we will give you is the following: see a nutritionist. After all, it is the best person to indicate a timely diet according to your requirements and your state of health.

Having said that, next we will give you a series of recommendations that can help you very effectively to control hypertension.

General diet to control hypertension

First, we offer you some tips that anyone can apply to avoid and control hypertension. Later, we will tell you the details of a specific diet for hypertensive patients.

• Prefers foods that are naturally low in fat. This is the case of fruits, vegetables or whole grains, among others.
• Get used to reading the labels of the products you buy: pay attention to saturated fat levels.
• Avoid foods rich in saturated fats, as they represent a risk factor for the development of high blood pressure. Foods with saturated fats include hard cheeses, egg yolks, creamer, whole milk, butter, ice cream and fatty meats.
• Choose lean proteins. Such is the case of chicken without skin, lean meat, soy and low-fat and skim milk products.
• When you go to the supermarket and read the labels , pay special attention to products that include the word “hydrogenated” or “partially hydrogenated.” Do not buy those foods, as they have high amounts of Trans and saturated fats.
• Avoid processed products as much as possible.
• Minimizes fried foods.
• Reduce the intake of products that are baked, but commercial sale. In that line are the donuts, cookies, packaged breads, and so on. It does not matter if they are sweet or salty: they are full of saturated fats.
• Be very careful with the preparation of food. To get more healthy proteins, foods like chicken, meat and fish should be boiled and then baked.
• Avoid frying your food, as well as add dressings and sauces full of fat.
• Eliminate the intake of fast food.

DASH diet to control hypertension

We already gave you an extensive list of tips that can help you control hypertension, as well as avoid it if, fortunately, you do not have it. Now it’s time to present a diet designed specifically to control hypertension: the DASH diet.

The acronym DASH corresponds to Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension). It is an alimentary regime whose fundamental principle is to stop hypertension. This is achieved by applying all of its concepts, usually after a few weeks.

Principles of the DASH diet

It is designed just to overcome the problems with high blood pressure. Of course, consult with a nutrition specialist to provide more details:

• Reduce sodium (salt) consumption to less than 2.3 milligrams daily. The optimal daily salt intake is 1.5 milligrams.
• You need to keep the following in mind: on product labels you will not always find the word salt, but sodium.
• It decreases the intake of total fats to only 27% of daily calories and less than 6% of saturated fats.
• Prefers low-fat dairy because it has been confirmed that they help reduce blood pressure.
• Try to choose only monounsaturated fats, present in olive oil, for example.
• Try to eat whole grains instead of refined products.
• Include fruits and vegetables in your daily diet, as your fiber and potassium intake will help you lower blood pressure.
• Eat nuts daily.
• Reduce your protein intake to less than 18% of the total calories of the day.
• Includes 30 grams of fiber per day.