2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49
Diet for hypertension: what can you eat and what not?
Content:
- What shouldn't be eaten?
- Diet restrictions
- What should you eat?
- General recommendations
Hypertension is fraught with many dangers, and neglect of this disease is fraught with serious problems for human health and life. If a patient was diagnosed with hypertension, then this means that from that day on he must radically change his usual way and even his way of thinking. At the same time, this does not mean that the quality of life of hypertensive patients is significantly worse than that of a healthy person. Compliance with some rules only testifies to respect for one's own body and the ability to preserve one's well-being.
What shouldn't be eaten?
It is worth noting in advance that many "taboo foods" are not recommended to be eaten even by people with a healthy cardiovascular system. Therefore, abandoning them will benefit any person.
Products, the use of which must be minimized, and it is better to completely refuse:
- Fatty meat is the main source of cholesterol. You can forget about high-fat red meat. All derived products are excluded from the diet: sausage, minced meat, bacon, entrails, etc. Rich broths are also unacceptable;
- Cakes, cookies, sweets, any baked goods - the synthesis of sugar and fat. As a rule, it is difficult for a person to control the amount of sweets eaten, so healthy carbohydrates should be preferred;
- Coffee, cocoa, chocolate - caffeine negatively affects the work of blood vessels, artificially causing spasms;
- Nicotine. Smoking and hypertension are incompatible concepts. During the day, the vascular system of a smoker suffers numerous malfunctions and becomes unable to independently regulate all processes.
Diet restrictions
The main rule is moderation. The portions should be approximately equal in size, there should not be large breaks between meals. Hypertensive patients need at least four fractional meals per day. The last meal is the lightest, no later than two and a half hours before bedtime.
It is recommended to limit the consumption of the following foods as much as possible:
- Salt - Sodium directly affects the increase in blood pressure. This element retains excess fluid in the body and, accordingly, increases the volume of circulating blood. It is necessary to refuse to add salt to food during cooking, since you can get the daily norm of sodium chloride (no more than 5 g) from natural products. In order for the food not to seem tasteless, it is worth using various herbs and spices;
- Animal fats - less than a third of all fat consumed. Butter, sour cream, cream should be replaced with vegetable oil (sunflower, olive, linseed). The consumption of cheese and fats in confectionery is minimized;
- Fish roe - contains a high level of hard-to-absorb lipids, as well as a large amount of salt. However, at the same time, fish caviar contains a lot of healthy omega-3 fat, which is necessary for hypertension;
- Digestible sugars are the main cause of excess weight - the best friend of high blood pressure. Only in small quantities are jelly, sweet compotes, fruit drinks, jelly, jam and honey allowed. You should not overeat such natural products as dried fruits - they also have a lot of sugar;
However, sugar is harmful not only for this, read the article: 10 facts about the dangers of sugar!
- Legumes and mushrooms - these products are difficult for the body to digest;
- Black and strong green tea leads to excessive vascular tone;
- Alcohol is a tremendous strain on the heart. The maximum daily dose is 150 grams, no more than twice a week.
Eating these foods should be the exception rather than the rule. A hypertensive person must remember that he can only afford it as an addition to the main portion, which consists of the food recommended to him. In case of abuse of the above products, they turn from acceptable to prohibited.
On the subject: The DASH Diet: An Effective High Pressure Diet
What should you eat?
A specialized physician will help you to form a diet correctly, taking into account all the characteristics of the body and the stage of the disease.
There are a number of universal dietary guidelines for hypertension:
- Cooked side dishes should be based on cereals, as well as potatoes and other vegetables. Pasta and white bread should be much less common;
- It is advisable to add greens to dishes: dill, parsley, spinach. Garlic and onions are extremely beneficial. These plants compensate for the lack of salt and strengthen blood vessels;
- It is recommended that you drink at least one glass of unsweetened rosehip decoction per day. The drink will lower the level of excess blood sugar;
- Preference should be given to dairy products with a minimum fat content. The amount of protein and calcium in them is not less than in fatty ones;
- It is imperative to observe the daily intake of potassium and magnesium. To do this, you need to know the list of products containing these trace elements (see below);
- It is better to cook soups based on vegetables and cereals. Lean meat broth should be no more than once a week.
The basis of the diet is:
- Fresh and frozen vegetables, fruits, berries;
- Groats (oat, millet, buckwheat, rice);
- Nuts (walnuts, almonds, peanuts, hazelnuts), seeds and bran. But strictly in limited quantities!
- Rye bread;
- Seafood (mussels, shrimps) and fish (it is better to give preference to low-fat varieties).
On the subject: Superfruit for hypertension
General recommendations
The daily diet for hypertension should contain the norm of organic trace elements (especially magnesium), vitamins P, C and a number of group "B".
The most important are potassium, magnesium and calcium, the daily intake of which is:
- Potassium - 3000-5000 mg;
- Magnesium - 400 mg;
- Calcium - 800-1200 mg
Table of products containing the required elements:
| Magnesium | Potassium | Calcium |
|
|
|
|
On the subject: Magnesium is the most important mineral for hypertension!
In conclusion, it should be said that a well-designed diet for hypertension can be quite varied in order to maximally facilitate the transition to a correct lifestyle and protect the patient's health.
The author of the article: Kuzmina Vera Valerievna | Endocrinologist, nutritionist
Education: Diploma of the Russian State Medical University named after NI Pirogov with a degree in General Medicine (2004). Residency at Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, diploma in Endocrinology (2006).
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