A hypertensive diet helps treat hypertension, better known as high blood pressure. Several factors increase your risk for developing hypertension, including age, obesity, lack of physical activity and stress. Your diet also increases your risk. Following a diet created specifically for hypertension -- the DASH diet -- may help lower your blood pressure as well as the health complications accompanying it.
Hypertension
Hypertension is more common than you may realize, affecting almost everyone at some point in time, according to MayoClinic.com. It develops gradually, over a period of weeks or years, and has earned the reputation as the "silent killer" due to its lack of symptoms. Hypertension occurs when the force of blood against your arteries is too high. Each time your heart beats, it forces more blood into your arteries, causing your pressure to rise. It is easily detected, and can be treated with a combination of medications and diet.
Sodium and Hypertension
The foods you eat not only affect your blood pressure, but can result in weight gain, another risk factor of hypertension. Excess sodium in your diet can increase your risk for high blood pressure, along with heart attack and stroke. Sodium forces your body to retain excess water to rid your body of excess sodium, explains Cleveland Clinic. For some, this increases blood pressure. A major focus of a hypertensive diet is to lower your sodium intake.
The DASH Diet
Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH, is a clinically proven diet designed to reduce blood pressure, according to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. It is low in saturated and total fat, as well as cholesterol and sodium. Its emphasis is on fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and whole-grains. The greatest benefits come from the amount of sodium allowed -- 1,500 mg per day.
Typical Servings
If following a 2,000 calories diet, you may consume seven to eight servings of grains per day, four to five servings each of fruits and vegetables, four to five servings a week of nuts, seeds and dry beans, two to three servings per day of low-fat dairy and two or less servings per day of lean meats. You can consume two to three servings per day of oils and five servings a week of sweets such as sugar, jelly or lemonade. Your servings may vary depending on your caloric intake. The foods your doctor recommends may also vary according to your condition.
