High blood pressure, also called hypertension, affects over 65 million Americans, including 33 percent of all adults, the National Institutes of Health reports. Another 28 percent have prehypertension, blood pressure between 120 and 139 mm/Hg systolic and/or 80 to 89 mm/Hg diastolic. Hypertension increases the heart's workload and can lead to heart and blood vessel damage, the number one causes of death in the United States. Controlling your diet can help control your blood pressure, which optimally should stay below 120/80mm/Hg.
DASH
DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The DASH diet, designed by the National Institutes of Health, emphasizes a balanced diet that limits total fats to 27 percent of your diet and saturated fats to 6 percent. Protein comprises 18 percent, with 55 percent of calories consumed in the form of carbohydrates, mostly fruits, vegetables and complex carbohydrates
Weight Loss
Losing even a small amount of weight helps lower blood pressure, the NIH stresses. If your body mass index, or BMI, is over 25, you're considered overweight, and if your BMI exceed 30, you're considered obese. Following a 1,600 calorie-a-day diet helps achieve weight loss goals.
Sodium
Restricting sodium dramatically affects blood pressure and is a major component of the DASH program. Most Americans consume between 4,000 and 6,000 mg of sodium, far in excess of what we need, gastroenterologist Frank Jackson explains. Sodium intake should not exceed 2,300 mg, the NIH recommends, and ideally should not exceed 1,500 mg to keep blood pressure under control. Since one teaspoon of table salt equals 2,300 mg of sodium, don't add any extra salt to food and avoid processed food, which usually contain large amounts of sodium. Learn to read labels for sodium content to stay under 2,300 mg, and gradually work your way down to 1,500 mg, the NIH advises.
Alcohol
Alcohol raises blood pressure if you drink more than five drinks of day, an unhealthy level in any case. One drink a day for women and two or less for men appear to have a protective effect on the heart, even in people who already have high blood pressure, Norman Kaplan, M.D. of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center reports on UpToDate.
Fiber
Increasing fiber intake to between 20 and 35 g per day can help reduce blood pressure, Dr. Kaplan says. Increasing fruit and vegetable intake to meet DASH guidelines of five to six serving of each daily, and adding breakfast cereals high in dietary fiber will help you reach these levels.
