What you eat can help lower your blood pressure and reduce your risk for stroke and heart disease. Show One such diet, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, has been shown to reduce blood pressure. This diet is low in saturated fat, cholesterol, and total fat. The diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products. Your blood pressure can be unhealthy even if it stays only slightly above 120/80 mm Hg. The higher above that level, the greater your health risk. Over time, high blood pressure makes your heart work too hard. This can cause stroke, heart disease, heart failure, kidney disease, and even blindness. Blood pressure measurements are given as 2 numbers. Systolic blood pressure is the upper number. This is the pressure when the heart contracts. Diastolic blood pressure is the lower number. This is the pressure when the heart relaxes between beats. Blood pressure is categorized as normal, elevated, or stage 1 or stage 2 high blood pressure:
High blood pressure is diagnosed when multiple, separate readings show blood pressure above 130/80 mmHg. Talk with your healthcare provider if you have questions or concerns about your blood pressure readings. Why this diet worksWhy is the DASH diet so effective at reducing blood pressure? It combines many nutrients that have been shown to help reduce blood pressure. Those nutrients include calcium, potassium, magnesium, protein, and fiber, as well as lower total fat and saturated fat. The DASH diet is naturally low in salt. The DASH diet recommends menus containing 2,300 mg of sodium. The lower sodium DASH diet contains up to 1,500 mg of sodium a day. (One teaspoon of salt contains 2,300 mg of sodium.) Further, following the DASH diet may delay your need to take blood pressure lowering medicine, and may even keep you from needing to take it at all. And if you're already on medicine, it may help you reduce the amount you take. Doing the DASHThe DASH diet is a 2,000-calorie diet that includes:
The DASH diet isn't designed for weight loss, it can promote it if you reduce the number of servings you eat. Most of the food the diet features is big on volume and low in calories. Still, there are parts of the DASH diet that may not be easy to follow. For one, it's packed with dark-colored fruits and vegetables. So be prepared to be choosier at the supermarket. Also, if it's very different from what you normally eat, it may be hard to adjust. If you're serious about following the diet, it's a good idea to work with a registered dietitian (RD) for support and guidance. (For the names of RDs in your area who know about the DASH diet, visit the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics at www.eatright.org .) Moving forwardIf you decide to go it alone, adopt the DASH diet slowly. By doing so, you'll be more likely to stick to it long-term. For instance, add 1 more serving of vegetables at lunch and dinner if you eat only 1 or 2 servings a day now. You might also add fruit to meals and snacks if you now only have juice for breakfast. In addition, slowly increase your dairy products to 3 servings per day. Try drinking skim milk with lunch or dinner, instead of soda, alcohol, or tea. To get the most out of the DASH, lose weight if you need to and exercise regularly. Thirty to 40 minutes of moderate to vigorous intensity aerobic exercise 4 to 5 days a week is recommended. More dish on the DASHThe "DASH Eating Plan" is an online guide published by the NHLBI. It offers a reader-friendly explanation of high blood pressure, detailed daily servings charts to help you plan your menus, a week of suggested DASH menus, plus tips to reduce sodium. For more information about diet and other lifestyle factors to reduce hypertension, visit the DASH Eating Plan at www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/dash-eating-plan. How do you lower your bottom number on blood pressure?Diastolic blood pressure that's too low can lead to heart damage and may increase your risk for heart disease.. Focus on heart-healthy foods. ... . Limit saturated and trans fats. ... . Reduce sodium in your diet. ... . Eat more potassium. ... . Lay off the caffeine. ... . Cut back on alcohol.. What does it mean when your bottom blood pressure number is high?Diastolic pressure is the bottom number of a blood pressure reading. IDH occurs if someone has elevated diastolic blood pressure, increasing a person's risk of heart disease and stroke. Smoking, consuming alcohol, obesity, and high blood fat may lead to IDH.
What causes the diastolic to be high?Those factors include diabetes, kidney disease, obesity, smoking, hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis), or a history of heart disease or a heart attack.
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