High Blood Pressure and DASH Diet

airica25 · April 2013

sooooooooo... I went to the Dr yesterday because, well, lets face it.... I am getting older and need to start really looking at the facts. I have known I have had issues with my blood pressure because every time I am sick I go in to be treated for my cold, its elevated.

I decided that I wanted to take a look at it while not sick and it is elevated. quite a bit. and I have to try to get it under control before I stroke out. I eat those ww meals and I think that is part of it. The sodium in those are crazy high. I use Sea Salt....

My Dr gave me the DASH diet, One I have never heard of. Jeez. I am so tired of this already. I am stopping diet soda today. That is my number 1. small steps. and I am going to try changing up my exercise because clearly it is not working. Dr. told me to stay away from anything you can put in the microwave. hmmmm... that is huge. Ideas and information welcome. I need some motivation also, but I do have to say that living is a lot of motivation. :flowerforyou:

fattyfoodie · April 2013

HI there, at my 6 week post partum check up my BP was 165/95. I was shocked, it never went over 117/70 the whole time I was pregnant.

I have been monitored monthly since then and at my latest check I was 140/80. Not perfect, but well within normal.

I didn't do the DASH diet, but here's what worked for me:

1. Water all day long.
2. Exercise. I go to Bikram yoga 3-4 times a week.
3. Making meals at home.
4. Limiting carb intake to 150 g a day- this is the high end of what is considered "low carb." I certainly don't think it's low carb, I still eat lots of whole wheat pasta and sweet potatoes and so on, I really just cut out "white" carbs- white bread, flour etc. I cook with coconut and almond flour a lot now.
5. Switched mostly to almond milk. Did you know there are 13 g of sugar in 8 ounces of skim milk? I had no idea. There is no sugar and 1 g of fiber in unsweetened almond milk. It doesn't taste the same, but you do get used to it. I still use cow's milk when I make a latte, though.

Good luck, high BP sucks but you can normalize it relatively quickly with diet and exercise. Feel free to add me if you like.

1258936 · April 2013

Living is good motivation. Living well is my big motivator. I worked in a nursing home for 5 years. I've seen what can happen if you don't push yourself and strive for health. There is no way I will ever live in a nursing home. So to avoid that, I have slowly been changing my life, my attitude about food, and exercising. You have the choice of how you want your life to be.
I reccomend looking around and seeing what kind of eating plan you'd like to adapt. Research the effects of soda on your body, claims about low carb ,low calorie, or eat more to weigh less, or whatever strikes your fancy. Then, make a goal and slowly intergrate those changes into your lifestyle. I started with classes at the y 3x/week in december, now I go 6 days a week with a plan, on my own. I started to adapt "clean eating" one meal at a time, now I eat clean all day (still transitioning and struggling, but NEVER giving up).
Do the research, make an informed decision, make a plan and transition slowly. You can do whatever you put your mind to.

Good luck.

pujaji · April 2013

1) my experience is that doctors dont know a lot about diets. do your own research and dont let anybody tell you what to do. 2) its better to stick with minimal changes than trying to "be good" starting tomorrow.
also walking is underrated. buy a fitbit or something like it and walk from a to b. then try out sports you like. dont mind sucking at them for a while...it gets fun soon!
3) ive lost about 45 lbs by doing babysteps. that way you reach your little goals and feel so good about it that motivation is no problem.

youve got this, girl!

good luck!

Basco0614 · April 2013

I don't have high blood pressure but I rescently started taking garlic pills for other health reasons and it is proven to lower blood pressure and does tons of amazing things for you. I found some generic brand for 100 pills for 6 dollars. I also made sure and checked with a doctor and asked how many to take and you cant O.D. on garlic so I decided to take two each morning. I work at a hospital and after talking to others it seemed like I was one of many who took them and we all had different reasons. The part that was the best is that it is natural. Look into garlic pills to help while your in the process of getting it down through diet and working out. Also when searching through the frozen meals if I am eating those I just tell myself no more then 550 per meal of sodium and I am doing well with coming in on the low sodium side of things. Good luck.

needlework · April 2013

bump.

airica25 · April 2013

Thank you for the all the posts and motivation! I am doing my research currently. I like the idea of going to the store and only getting the items on the outer edge of the store! Still looking for the right answers!

One thing that I am finding is better food lower calorie = higher in sodium. Like 1 piece of white bread has 135 of sodium vs.
1 wheat pita has 335.

Your thoughts?

keyboardwench · April 2013

Don't really have all the answers you're looking for, especially anything calorie related, but may have some motivation to share with regards to DASH.

In my Health Psychology course this semester we had to design a behavioural change plan that related to health and I choose to reduce sodium intake as I know it's relationship between blood pressure and cardiovascular disease as well I have a family history of heart disease so I don't want that for me. One thing that kept coming up in my research was this DASH thing, DASH being used to control pre-hypertensive and hypertensive people, and so on. Two interesting studies were Sacks et al (2001) and Svetkey et al. (1991)

Sacks et al. (2001) tested to see what would happen to participant’s blood pressure when on a low sodium diet. 412 were sorted into either the control, which ate an average American diet, or the test group which ate according to the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) standards of reduced sodium intake. Anyways, the big news is that Sacks et al. (2001) found that the reduction of sodium in diet led to a significant lowering of blood pressure in the DASH group. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM200101043440101

In addition, Svetkey et al. (1999) tested the DASH diet in comparison to two other control groups using 459 participants over 11 weeks and found that the DASH group had significantly lowered blood pressure at the end of the program. More support for DASH! http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9989541

Anyways, that's my motivation. DASH appears to work. You keep on it, stay true, and reduce that sodium and you should see a reduction in blood pressure. Scientific, published support in respected journals.

Fruits and veggies, foods on the outside of the store are definitely your best options. Prepacked foods, fast food, and junk food are usually maintained through preservatives and have added salt for flavour. Sacks et al. (2001) went into detail that it emphasizes "fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods; includes whole grains, poultry, fish, and nuts; and contains smaller amounts of red meat, sweets, and sugar-containing beverages than the typical diet in the US... also contains smaller amounts of total and saturated fat and cholesterol and larger amounts of potassium, calcium, magnesium, dietary fibre, and protein than the typical diet."

unlocke · April 2013

I've been doing DASH for almost a month, not for lowering blood pressure since mine's already ridiculously low, but just to give myself a little structure around eating healthier. I do much better if the plan is all laid out for me and I don't have to think about what to eat. The basic premise of DASH is to break the habits of sugary, carb-laden foods and replace them with veggies, fruit, lowfat dairy, whole grains, etc. You know.....healthy foods.

The first two weeks was a little difficult but since then it's been a breeze. There's tons of delish recipes in the book & the breakfasts & lunches are really simple. I actually went back through phase one twice because I'm going on a cruise in a couple of weeks and trying to lose fast. When we get back, I'll start on phase two. Meanwhile, I'm down 12 1/2 lbs. I lost the majority of that in the first two weeks so I figure it was mostly water weight. My husband is down almost 20 lbs. in the same amount of time.
I hate the term "diet", especially for this because it's not really a diet if you learn what it's meant to teach you....how to eat healthy for life. Good luck to you.

WarriorCupcakeBlydnsr · April 2013

I tried the dash diet several months ago (lowered my BP, not good for me since I already have low BP, doc recommended trying it for weight loss, but didn't work for me for a whole separate reason) but while I was doing it, I found the book DASH Diet for Weight Loss by Thomas Moore helped it broke everything down and had meal plans depending on how many calories per day you're eating.

ac_boubou · April 2013

Hello,
Just to let you know, I am a french person, so I just want you to excuse my approximative english speak. :ohwell:

I am dealing with high pressure blood too for about five months. I'm only 34 years old and even if I have a weight problem, the Dr told me that there was a part of a family problem. (my father have that too.) The big problem for me is that I don't eat salty food. I make my own meals every day. I go to restaurant once a week, and I am more a sushi, grilled fish, veggies person. So I think I make healty choices even in restaurant. I do not drink soda and I do not eat processed food.

So here what I change: Less salt in my recipe, I check every label on package at the grocery store, I quit eating ham and salty meat in sandwichs, I workout 30 min. everyday and drink 1 1/2 to 2 L, of water per day. And did my own research on web. (I found that I should eat 200mg of sodium or less by portion. That's easy to remember and apply.)

Now, when I eat some food in restaurant, or friends I find it too salty and not tasty at all

Just keep going, off course you need to make some changes but it worth it.
My blood pressure is still high and out of control so I'm taking some medication. I'm still trying to lose weight to get more healty and take risk of stroke and health problems away.
It's a everyday challenge. Good luck! hope that you find your way to make it trough.

High Blood Pressure and DASH Diet

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