As in my not so previous post on hypertension, I am here yet again to give advices, this time more focused on diet that is advantageous for hypertensive individuals as well as people preventing hypertension.
If you go back to my post on The Very Common Hypertension you will see FOOD HABITS being a factor to having a heart problem. And hypertension being the primary symptom, it is but appropriate that we have a change in our food consumption, both in QUALITY and QUANTITY.
More often than not people are aware of the do's and dont's but prefers to ignore them. Especially when we speak of food and how nice it is to eat and splurge into eating when it is really tasty. And what makes a food tasty?
In conclusion, diet for the heart is also a diet for hypertension. Dietitians can give you specific instructions based on your usual intake that will help you cope with the need for change. It need not be "FOOD FOR THE SICK" as most people call it because it can be as appetizing and as good as normal food (or close to it) but healthier. All you need is the proper guidance on how to make everything work, your commitment to achieving the healthy heart that you want and the knowledge and motivation that will help you in maintaining the habit than backsliding and going through it all over again. REMEMBER:
If you go back to my post on The Very Common Hypertension you will see FOOD HABITS being a factor to having a heart problem. And hypertension being the primary symptom, it is but appropriate that we have a change in our food consumption, both in QUALITY and QUANTITY.
More often than not people are aware of the do's and dont's but prefers to ignore them. Especially when we speak of food and how nice it is to eat and splurge into eating when it is really tasty. And what makes a food tasty?
Let us start with FAT/OIL. Fat makes food wonderfully tasty. Not just in the form of visible fats like pork fat, beef fat, butter, bacon etc., but as well as oil in fried foods, cream in cakes, mayonnaise in salads, high fat milk in chocolates, ice creams...so on and so forth. But remember that we just have certain allowance of fat in our daily diet, may it be good fat or bad fat. ANYTHING IN EXCESS of the allowance is stored as fat in our belly's, arms, legs, or what we call saggy "flabs". They also will be converted into cholesterol that is not good for the heart.
Fat and oil cannot and must not be removed in the diet because as in our elementary education, they are our GLOW foods. (Remember Go, Grow and Glow!?) We need them BUT we have to know the limit. We have different allowances depending on our weight, height and physical activity (10% of our caloric requirement for the day)...but we have the same need to choose for the GOOD FAT instead of the bad fat. Bad Fat or Bad Cholesterol comes from animal sources and dairy products. Meat, chicken, milk, butter, etc. Good Fat or Good Cholesterol on the other hand can be found in fish. Thus, EAT MORE FISH and seldom of meat.
SECOND WILL BE SALT. "In excess of everything is not good" is one of my favorite phases. Salt goes with this. Too much of salt intake can disrupt our systems equilibrium, specifically the sodium and potassium concentration in our blood. This can be translated in layman's language of "the blood is thickening".
THIRD WILL BE THE FORE MENTIONED CALORIC INTAKE. Too much calories will be stored and in the long run will accumulate and increase ones weight. Overweight and obesity will give tremendous burden to the heart as well thus increasing blood pressure.
In conclusion, diet for the heart is also a diet for hypertension. Dietitians can give you specific instructions based on your usual intake that will help you cope with the need for change. It need not be "FOOD FOR THE SICK" as most people call it because it can be as appetizing and as good as normal food (or close to it) but healthier. All you need is the proper guidance on how to make everything work, your commitment to achieving the healthy heart that you want and the knowledge and motivation that will help you in maintaining the habit than backsliding and going through it all over again. REMEMBER:
PREVENTION IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN CURE.
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very informative sis.. thanks for posting :)
Simply - You Are What You Eat.
thanks for this post, people are aware of the risks of eating high calorie content foods but people never seem to care thus the hypertension
Research demonstrates that eating carbs and high insulin stimulate the kidneys to retain and even regain the salt (sodium) instead of excrete it. The body retains, to compensation, largely extra water. This heightens the blood pressure. Insulin also stimulates the nervous system and this raises the heartbeat, narrows the blood vessels and therefore the blood pressure. The higher the insulin, the higher the stimulation on the nervous system and the higher the blood pressure.
VBR Hans