High blood pressure diet: how to stop hypertension through nutrition

High blood pressure is dangerous for the brain. It always ends in disaster — stroke. Can protect your brain with food?

Experts from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in the United States have identified three diets that have been proven effective. The first place is taken by the DASH diet. Main action — prevention of hypertension and lowering blood pressure. Nutritionists claim that this high blood pressure diet works just as well as drugs.

• The High Blood Pressure Diet: DASH Basic Principles
• How to go from usual eating to DASH diet

The High Blood Pressure Diet: The Basic Principles of DASH

The main advantage of DASH is that you don't hunger — the menu is nutritious and varied, it can be changed.

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The essence of the diet — reducing the amount of salt to completely refusing salt and eliminating foods high in fat and sugar.

The most important thing in menu planning — is to adhere to the general principles:

• Mandatory restriction of salt to 3 g (1⁄2 h l.) per day.

  This amount includes salt, which is contained in all products: bread, cheeses , soups, etc. If possible, you should completely abandon salt.

Drink at least 2 liters of fluid per day.
You can drink any drinks except alcohol and carbonated water.
• Eat 5 times daily.

  One serving should not exceed 215 g.

Total calories — 2.5 & nbsp; thousand kcal per day.
In addition to the main meals, snacks are allowed (up to  eight times a day).
Chocolate, jam and other sweets — up to five times a week.
Introduce solid grains, cereals, seeds, fiber, legumes, lean meats, lean fish, and vegetables into your diet.
Avoid alcoholic beverages and smoking.
Refuse smoked meats, muffins, canned fish and meat, pickles, fatty foods.
The diet should contain calcium, potassium, fiber and vegetable fats. It is important that the DASH diet does not limit the use of certain "correct" diets. products. You can give preference to your favorite vegetables and fruits.

Healthy sweets: top 10 substitutes for harmful sweets The daily menu should include:

Water — 2 liters per day.
Fruits — 5 pieces per day. Fresh fruits can be replaced with dried fruits — 1 4 glasses per serving or 150 ml fresh juice
Vegetables — 5 times day ½ a glass of cooked or fresh vegetables.
Nuts, beans, seeds — 200 g per week.
Vegetable oil — 3 tsp l per linseed or olive oil per day.
Dairy products. They should be low in fat. On a day you can eat 50 g of cheese or cottage cheese, 150 ml of yogurt or milk.
Fish, poultry & lean — 5 servings per day. One serving contains 30 g of cooked meat. One meal of meat can be replaced with an egg.
Sweet dishes. Eat no more than five times a week, one teaspoon of jam or honey at a time.
Cereals and cereals. You can eat up to 6 servings per day of any porridge or replace it with a slice of bread. One serving should contain 1⁄2 cups of cooked cereal or pasta.

The benefits of natural honey: why you need to eat a bee product Separately, I must say about coffee. There is an established belief that coffee increases blood pressure. Yes this is true. But & nbsp; only in & nbsp; those cases when a person very rarely drinks coffee. However, if you are accustomed to drinking a cup of an invigorating drink every day, then caffeine has a beneficial effect on the tone of the cardiovascular system. Coffee lovers are less likely to suffer from arrhythmia, the risk of heart attack and hypertensive crises is reduced.

Follow us on Instagram The DASH diet doesn't claim to be a miracle cure for high blood pressure. It just slows down the development of hypertension.

In addition, a balanced diet normalizes weight, reduces cholesterol levels and becomes a prevention of diabetes.

How to go from usual eating to DASH diet

You don't have to make a drastic change in your normal lifestyle. Start with small changes.

Reduce the amount of salt.
Add one serving of vegetables or fruits to your daily diet. You can eat them as a snack.
Slowly introduce low-fat dairy products into the menu. An hour before sleep, you can drink a glass of yogurt.
Swap regular cereals for whole grains. Avoid  cereals.
Choose foods that contain free of trans fats, preservatives, and flavors.
In winter, use frozen vegetables, berries and fruits.
Following this diet is quite simple. It is varied, moderately high-calorie and does not involve strict restrictions. Based on the DASH menu, you can organize the right and tasty food for the whole family.

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