High Blood Pressure Diet – Top Tips
Blood Pressure Diet What is hypertension and why is a Blood Pressure diet so important? It is something many of us never think about, but it keeps you alive and it is important to stay in a healthy range! In this blog, we cover all you need to know and how to improve it. Blood pressure is when your heart pumps blood through your arteries, putting pressure on the artery wall. This naturally goes up and down with your normal daily activities. A normal blood pressure level is less than 120/80 mmHg What do blood pressure numbers mean? Blood pressure is recorded with two numbers: The first number is called systolic blood pressure. This is the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats. The second number is called diastolic blood pressure. This measures the pressure in your arteries when your heart rests between beats. If you have never had this checked yourself you may have seen a Dr on TV using a cuff and stethoscope on patients to listen to their arm! This is checking blood pressure. An electronic blood pressure monitor is the up-to-date way of checking your home blood pressure: What is High Blood Pressure? High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is when your blood pressure is higher than normal. The higher your blood pressure means you are at greater risk of heart disease heart attack heart failure stroke Not what you want to be hearing. High blood pressure also increases your risk of developing the following health problems Kidney disease Vision problems, retinal changes Sexual dysfunction, such as erectile dysfunction Circulatory problems, including peripheral artery disease (leg pain when walking) Atrial Fibrillation – Abnormal heart rhythms Vascular dementia Aortic Aneurysm – vessel swelling in the abdomen So how common is High Blood pressure? Nearly 1/2 the population in America have high blood pressure and in the UK it is not far behind with 1 in 3 adults (around 16 million) having high blood pressure (a reading of 140/90 or higher). This rises to at least 1 in 2 over-65s. Unfortunately, most people will never know they have high blood pressure as it is known as the silent killer. If you do have the following symptoms: Headaches, anxiety, nosebleeds, and palpitations do get them checked out as these can be signs of high blood pressure. Why do we get High Blood pressure? The top risk factors for high blood pressure include: Being overweight/obese – The more you weigh the more blood flow is required to the tissues to supply nutrients and oxygen. Blood vessels increase and so does the pressure inside your arteries. Too much salt (sodium) in your diet – your body retains fluid when there is too much sodium in your diet. This causes the arteries in your body to narrow. Both increase blood pressure. Too little potassium in your diet -Potassium is important to help balance the sodium in your cells. Potassium causes the smooth muscle cells in your arteries to relax, which lowers blood pressure. Not being physically active – Exercise lowers blood pressure by increasing blood flow through all the arteries of the body. This leads to the release of natural hormones and cytokines relaxing blood vessels. Lack of physical activity also increases the risk of being overweight which as we know now is a risk factor in itself. What lifestyle change lowers blood pressure the most? Weight loss for high blood pressure Weight loss is one of the most effective lifestyle changes for controlling blood pressure. If you’re overweight or have obesity, losing even a small amount of weight can help reduce blood pressure. Blood Pressure diet – Nutrient-rich foods Many people embark on trying to lose weight for multiple reasons, many due to health, and they hit a brick wall after a few weeks or months. Following macros, friends’ recommendations, or very kcal-restricted diets. They start with the best of intentions, but if they are not focused on the long game the diet becomes boring, and tasteless and can lead to far more problems than they started with. I have written about this in other blogs and also have several videos on my YouTube channel about weight loss, macros and intuitive eating. The focus for blood pressure is getting key nutrients in each day potassium, calcium and magnesium are just a few. These nutrients help control blood pressure. While building these in, reducing sodium, saturated fat and added sugars is critical. Salt/Sodium and High Blood Pressure Salt/sodium intake is directly correlated to high blood pressure and is found in so many processed foods – both sweet and savoury. Adults should eat no more than 6g of salt a day (2.4g sodium) – that’s around 1 teaspoon in all the foods and fluids you consume. Children aged: 1 to 3 years should eat no more than 2g salt a day (0.8g sodium) Bacon, sausages, ham, meat pies, sausage rolls, pizza, crisps, bread….. are all high-salt processed foods. One slice of pan-fried pork bacon alone has 194 milligrams of sodium! Thankfully there are no special foods required to reduce your blood pressure, just focus on eating a wide range of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. Including low-fat dairy products, fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and unrefined oils. 121 Dietitian programmes are created especially for you to ensure you get all of the correct nutrients and still make it tasty and enjoyable lifelong. How did we design our Blood Pressure Diet? DASH The DASH eating plan was designed from the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension clinical study funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute in 1997. This study found that populations who consume diets rich in vegetables and fruits have a lower blood pressure than those whose diets are low in vegetables. In addition to fruits and vegetables, dietary fibre, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and protein were all essential. All these important nutrients are the cornerstone of our 121 specially designed programmes! Drinking less alcohol Having more than two drinks per day
Oats NOT so good!
Well, 16 years of educating others I thought I was immune to the everyday angst of nutritional dilemmas!!!!!! Until very recently, so recent that I still can’t believe it and I may be in recovery for a while! Okay enough drama, here’s what happened: I was on a long journey driving through the night and pulled into a service station to refresh with a coffee. It was 3am so calculating ahead as my usual Dietitian head does, I considered my ‘up and coming’ breakfast options and I decided I would pick up a snack at this point so if anything changes later with my journey then I could keep on driving. While ordering the coffee I perused the appealing, but limited, arrangement of sweet stodge! I decide I would over look these and went for the most righteous option the ‘Nutty Flapjack’. I paid, ate and drank with satisfaction. Ah! However things quickly turned nasty! As I finished my flapjack I smelt a rat, (okay not literally) the flavours were sweeter and fattier than my finely tuned palate was expecting, alarm bells rang. The detective flick switched on in me and I peered at the small print – the ingredients and nutrient information. AHHHH! I nearly choked, if the coffee hadn’t woken me up at 3am then the info on the packet certainly did!!! I had consumed the equivalent of a hamburger and small fries, or two slices of cake, or a cooked breakfast. What a cheat. What made it even harder to swallow (wished I hadn’t!) was that it was made with 60% butter and condensed milk with a scant offering of oats, nuts and more sugar!!!! So I couldn’t even glory in the, ‘well the ingredients were superior’ therefore I shall accept the wonderful nutrients and the kcal’s come as a consequence. This experience brought me straight to the coal face of what my clients experience daily and why sometimes when you think you are doing right you are doing wrong. The moral of the story: no matter who you are! If you are keeping to a healthy eating plan, check all ingredients and nutritional information as you could be in for a surprise! Information checked & correct on 16th May 2018.
It’s Been a While – Vitamin D
Hi, well what a year it has been. Work has pushed my boundaries further than ever imagined, the kids school and social demands continue unabated and we are now heading to another episode of over indulgence! Looking back, we have had a disappointing amount of summer sunshine, not good for Vitamin D stores or for the fun picnics we so love. We did have a fab trip which was a special treat and it certainly made up for our poor weather; a royal Caribbean cruise! Wow, as a Dietitian it was a sight to behold. The food choices were superb from both ends of the spectrum! The holiday guests, some whom had definitely been there before, could eat 24/7 and some did. Initially I found it all a little overwhelming and off-putting, but once I realised that the majority were not all gluttons we had a holiday of a lifetime! Vitamin D As we come into the winter it is important to be aware that nearly half of the British population have low blood levels of Vitamin D during the winter and spring months. This has come from changes in our lifestyles, less time outdoors, and increased use of sunscreens. If you are Obese, pregnant or a child you are at further risk due to either lack of availability with high fat stores or due to an increased need for development and growth. Why Worry? Rickets, a bone disease from the Victorian times, that had diminished, is now increasing significantly, leading to bow legs and short height, if prolonged it results in adults as osteomalacia. Recent Scientific literature has linked this important vitamin to not alone bone health; rickets, oesteoporosis (brittle bones) but also low levels of vitamin D are linked to increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, breast and colon cancer, impaired immunity, type I diabetes, arthritis and multiple sclerosis. What Can You Do? Careful exposure to the sun in the summer months (pale skin achieves sufficient amounts 10 times faster than darker skin) is considered essential but maybe not enough. Food Sources: Salmon- wild and baked is an excellent source. Baking has no effect on Vitamin D content whereas frying reduces it by 50%! Sun dried Shitake mushrooms is also highly concentrated, sardines canned, mackerel and tuna canned. Some breakfast cereals are higher than others so check the labels. Some manufacturers are aware of this deficiency worry and products like breads are being fortified, polyunsaturated margarine are also fortified. Until further fortification is widespread supplements maybe necessary. Make sure you are getting enough from your diet and sunshine and then top up over the winter months. Information checked & correct on 16th May 2018.
