Losing weight with hypertension, or HTN, and diabetes is a challenging process. Hypertension and diabetes are serious health conditions that must be managed. Although weight loss positively impacts hypertension and diabetes, these conditions present special challenges when losing weight.
Step 1
Reduce your portion sizes to lose weight as opposed to drastically changing your diet. Diabetes and hypertension require specific dietary measures be taken to be properly managed. Consult your physician or a dietitian if you struggle with your overall diet. Visit a diabetes educator if you need assistance learning how to follow a diabetic diet.
Step 2
Limit your sodium intake to no more than 2,000 mg or the amount recommended by your physician to manage hypertension. Cut out high-calorie salty snacks, such as potato chips and frozen dinners to reduce sodium intake and assist in weight loss. Although convenient and lower in calories, canned soup, processed meat and other sodium-rich foods should also be avoided to keep blood pressure under control.
Step 3
Reduce your sugar consumption to no more than 3 g per serving. In addition to managing your blood glucose level, eliminating sugary foods and snacks from your diet will assist you in reducing your waistline. Pudding, ice cream, cake, cookies, chocolate and candy should be avoided. Be on the lookout for foods foods that seem nutritious but contain hidden sugars. Many low-fat diet foods add sugar to replace the flavor that was lost by reducing the fat.
Step 4
Limit carbohydrates to 75 g per meal and 50 g per snack. Choose complex carbohydrates, such as whole grain pasta, whole wheat bread and brown rice. These foods are higher in fiber than processed grains. Fiber helps you feel full, assisting you to eat less. Additionally, foods high in fiber break down slowly in the digestive tract, resulting in a slow, steady increase in blood sugar levels as opposed to a rapid spike. This is especially important for people with diabetes who must properly manage blood glucose levels.
Step 5
Incorporate plentiful amounts of non-starchy vegetables into your diet, including lettuce, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, string beans, broccoli and cauliflower. These vegetables are high in fiber and low in calories. High fiber foods such as these help regulate blood glucose levels, a necessity for a diabetic dieter.
Step 6
Follow-up with your physician regularly. Any medications you take for hypertension and diabetes may need to be adjusted as you lose weight. If insulin and anti-hypertensive medications are not properly adjusted, hypoglycemia and hypotension may develop.
References
- "Contemporary Nutrition"; Gordon M. Wardlaw, et al.; 2007
- "Handbook of Obesity Treatment"; Thomas A. Wadden PhD, et al.; 2004
- "Foundations of Nursing"; Lois White, et al.; 2010
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