High Blood Pressure Diet Plan

With people getting into inactive and sedentary lifestyles, diseases like high blood pressure are becoming quite prevalent. But is there any way to control it? Well, following a specialised high blood pressure diet will certainly help!

What is High Blood Pressure or Hypertension?

Often neglected by many, the common high blood pressure can be a serious health hazard if not taken care of in time. High blood pressure or we can say hypertension is one of the most common risk factors that lead to chronic health problems like heart disease and kidney disease, apart from several other health issues that it may come along with. 

According to a research, one in four adults in India is suffering from the problem of high blood pressure, out of which some are aware of their condition, while others have completely neglected it.

Discussing the Cure for High Blood Pressure

There is no sure shot way to cure high blood pressure permanently, but there are options to control it through medication, healthy diet and active daily lifestyle among others. 

In this situation, the person suffering from high blood pressure is the best one to help themselves in many ways, one of them being taking a healthy diet to control high blood pressure. But most of the people are unaware of the healthy diet needed to control high blood pressure. So here we help you in understanding what exactly a healthy diet to control blood pressure means, what all options you have, and how to make your own diet plan to control high BP.

What Does a High Blood Pressure Diet Mean?

Now this can be summarised easily in the below provided points for better understanding:

• Fats that mostly come in the form of fried food are extremely unhealthy trans fats, and are among the high blood pressure foods to avoid. Instead, grill, stew or bake your food as much as possible.
• Stick to unsaturated fats (monounsaturated & polyunsaturated) in food for high blood pressure. This is because they are known to lower the LDL (bad cholesterol) and maintain HDL (good cholesterol).
• Include low fat dairy products in your diet, like low fat milk, yoghurts and cottage cheese along with other non-fat dairy products.
• Reduce the amount of sugar you are consuming on a daily basis, and instead rely on fruits for high blood pressure that are highly beneficial. Try foods sweetened with natural fruit extracts and replace your beverage with unsweetened fresh fruit juice.
• Increase the amount of fibre in your diet with at least 5 helping of fresh fruits and vegetables every day.
• Rely mostly on wholegrain and fibre-rich breads along with wholegrain cereals in the form of shredded weight flakes, bran flakes and oatmeal. 
• Limiting your salt intake can also be one of the ways to control high blood pressure. One of the best ways of doing so is to replace salt with spics, herbs and other salt free dressings while cooking or on your dinner table. 
• Drink alcohol in moderation, however if you are facing no problem with drinking then a drink or two daily can help you in controlling stress, which also reduces blood pressure. If taken in moderation, alcohol can have some positive effects on your health. Here moderate drinking refers to 1 drink per day for women and 2 for men.

One Day Sample Diet Plan to Control High Blood Pressure 

Customising a High Blood Pressure Diet

For a person suffering from high blood pressure, a healthy diet refers to the one with low calories and low fat. The key to lowering blood pressure is to lose excess weight. In cases when a person is already maintaining a healthy weight and suffering from high blood pressure, moderating the daily diet can certainly help in lowering blood pressure without any medication.

Experts suggest that anyone who is suffering from high blood pressure must include potassium rich dietary supplements in their daily diet along with magnesium and fish oils, before it takes any ugly turn for their health. While supplements can be a great idea to meet your daily nutritional needs, it is often advisable to find all your required natural nutrients in healthy foods that are included in your healthy diet plan for lowering blood pressure.

It is always advisable that a person suffering from high blood pressure should consult with their doctor first before visiting a nutritionist to get their diet plan formulated as per their health requirements. Only after their doctor’s consultation can a nutritionist decide on what all foods they should be including in their diet or what needs to be avoided in order to reduce the causes of high blood pressure.

Conclusion

Apart from diet, another important aspect that plays a key role in bringing the blood pressure down is how active their lifestyle is. Exercise to control blood pressure is very important so do some physical activity like morning walk, to maintain a healthy and active lifestyle. These can help you reduce the symptoms of high blood pressure.

Additionally, learning some stress management skills and techniques such as yoga, meditation or Tai Chi can help greatly in the long run to fight high blood pressure. These are also helpful in avoiding or fighting other lifestyle diseases that mostly affect the person who gets stressed easily.