(News Chief) — There is an old adage that goes something like: We are what we eat and do. This adage holds very true today. There is no question that diet and activity play pivotal roles in the health of every individual.
More and more studies are confirming that a modification in diet will not only prevent, but treat high blood pressure, or hypertension, as the medical profession calls it.
A study entitled “Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension” (DASH) has shown without a doubt that diet modestly reduced in salt with an increase in fresh fruits, vegetables and low dairy products can lower blood pressure. The reason for this is that this type of diet is rich in nutrients such as calcium, magnesium, and potassium. It also reduces one of the leading causes of high blood pressure, and that is salt.
Multiple studies have gone on to state that patients that do follow the DASH diet have a decrease in load-density lipoprotein (LDL), also known as bad cholesterol.
Before anyone undertakes a diet, they should talk it over with their family doctor.
There is no question that the more a person is aware of their diet and follows logical dietary restrictions, the greater the chance they have of living a normal and healthy life.
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Respectfully, there are far better diets than DASH for reducing hypertension. Cholesterol is difficult to modify with diet only. A largely vegetarian diet, and live foods at that, is the most effective. But, is cholesterol really that detrimental? The most recent studies suggest not!
Interestingly, the percentage of people sensitive to salt in the hypertension is relatively small. Switching to sea salt (which is alkiline) is much better than common manufactured table salt (basic).
All the best!!
I agree. If you are serious about using diet to control hypertension, give up the quickly metabolized carbs like potatoes and grains. Even brown rice and so called whole grains in general still affect blood sugar which in turn can lead to insulin spikes which in turn can lead to insulin resistance, which in turn can lead to metabolic syndrome, diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol and heart disease.
Cholesterol isn’t really the problem so much as theinderlying cause of disease: inflammation. Diet is a poor away to control it cholesterol,as only about 20% of blood cholesterol comes from what we eat. The only reason to be concerned about high cholesterol is it is often a sign of metabolic imbalance and inflammation. Lower inflammation by eating alkaline foods, eliminating or at Least limiting processed grains, flours and sugar and you’ll start to see those numbers get in line.the DASH diet is a good start but it doesnt go far enough with regards to carbs and sugar. Try this for a few months and watch your blood pressure go down. And if you’re still concerned about cholesterol (recent studies are beginning to bear out the fallacy the relationship between high blood cholesterol and eating high cholesterol foods such as the once demonized egg,) you will see those numbers fall into line as well as your triglycerides going down. Get a good juicer and make lots of veggie juice. Eat your greens. Get plenty of cardio exercise and sleep. If they got on a program such as this, most people wouldn’t need to be on statins or BP meds. Some still would (but possibly at lower levels.) Try it, it’s not so hard to give up those comfort pastries and sweet cereals and pastas, mashed potatoes etc. Once you give up the sugar, white flour etc, you will lose the taste for it. Eventually your body will tell you what it really wants, once the junk is out of your diet. Anyway, it worked for me!
If I were serious about making lifestyle changes to lower BP and cholesterol, I would go grain free for at least 3-6 months. I would also eliminate potatoes and all sugar, including watching my fruit intake. No sodas, nothing with HFC in it. A vegetable juice fast for a week ot two after being on this program for a month or so would be a vast help. Losing weight on this diet and keeping it off is so easy. I lost about 30 pounds and have abated to keep it off. Do I miss breads, pancakes, scones, waffles,etc? Not really and once in a while I let myself have. A piiece of chocolate cake as a treat. But then I’m back on my program the next day. It. Works people!
Bravo Brian! You certainly made some excellent points with regards to nutrition and exercise. This is how I managed to get off my Drs. prescribed BP meds; as well as lose and keep off almost 30 lbs. for about 4 years now. I still eat carbs, but very minimally and the “good kind”. I’m trying to stay 100% away from anything with added sugar now. It’s difficult, but I know I can do it.
As for others getting off of statins and all the other “medications’ out there, I cringe everytime I go to the grocery store and watch all the crap that people buy. They are so uninformed, and I think most people just don’t care – they want their junk. Since most all the crap food out there is addictive, it’s no wonder we’re in such a state of ill health in this country.