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DASH diet for HBP

ashliejoy
ashliejoy Posts: 4 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello!

Like many other folks, I've grown up with a bigger body and family history of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. While I'm still avoiding the diabetes for now, I have pretty high cholesterol and HBP (consistently 150/100's), and my doc just put me on medications for both of these (atorvastatin and some diuretic; haven't picked them up yet). I'm only 29, and have gotten frustrated on many occasions when it comes to healthy diet and exercise. I've used MFP before, especially for a year when I was on a keto diet, but I find that I become obsessive and worry about ED triggers. The flipside is that I've tried to become an "intuitive eater" but end up just eating junk like I would when I was a kid. I want to break these habits SO badly but I worry about what that might look like. I know I need to try the DASH diet for HBP and would really like to lose weight (I'm at my highest ever at the moment). If there's any recipes/tips/snack ideas you have for this, I'm looking for them! I'm a bit of a picky eater, so simple is best!

Replies

  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,462 Member
    Google is your friend for DASH friendly meals and foods.


    Sometimes just exercise and losing a bit of weight makes a huge difference for cholesterol and HBP, but as you say there is a genetic link you may end up on the meds anyway.

    Regardless, nothing like a good food plan and exercise - that's the best any of us can do.

    Good luck, welcome back.
  • lemurcat2
    lemurcat2 Posts: 7,887 Member
    Did your doctor recommend DASH? If so, you should have specific guidelines about food and servings. Following those might be a good medium between trying to intuitive eat and MFP. If not, you might be able to ask for a referral or just google online for DASH plans for specific calorie levels. (It's not a meal plan, but gives you a guideline for servings of different types of food daily.) We had a thread on it here at one point.

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