Finding the Right Blood Pressure Diet

After being diagnosed with high blood pressure, prescribed with medication to lower it and receiving recommendations to change your lifestyle, many people suffer intensely, not due to their condition but from the fact of having to sacrifice their tasty meals by following a high blood pressure diet.

Like it happens with weight loss, modifying your diet does not mean you have to sacrifice the foods you like or the taste and flavors. With the help of a health care provider, you can design a well-balanced high blood pressure diet, combining the foods that like you while reducing the intake of salt and fats.

Fortunately, there are also many resources providing reliable information on nutrition, which are especially designed diets for the hypertensive patient. Among them, the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) developed a high blood pressure diet, widely known as the DASH Diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension).

This diet has been tested profusely, and recommends limiting salt and sodium intake, because sodium also comes from other sources including vegetables, fruits and products enriched with minerals, although there 3 that are recognized as aids in the treatment of high blood pressure: calcium, magnesium and potassium.

Another recommended high blood pressure diet has been published is the NHLBI's Dietary Guidelines for American, and includes fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, including meat products and low-fat dairy. Both diets emphasize the reduction of salt, as recommended by the Federal Government's National High Blood Pressure Education Program (NHBPEP)

According to the NHBPEP, the sodium recommendation is 2400 mg per day in your high blood pressure diet. This amount is the approximate equivalent of 1 teaspoon of salt. However, the DASH diet was designed after a study revealing that the intake of 1500 mg of salt daily is better to control blood pressure levels.

Not all the people suffering from high blood pressure are overweight, however a diet designed to lose weight can be used as a high blood pressure diet, the same as those low in sodium and rich in fruits and vegetables. Some of these diets come endorsed by the name of a celebrity or the brand of nutrition companies.

Whichever diet you choose, there are some foods that must definitely be excluded from your high blood pressure diet, including potato chips, pickles, salted popcorn, soy sauce, cheese, canned soups, cured meat and all type of seasoning salts such as onion salt, garlic salt, celery salt, and so on.