High Blood Pressure – DASH Diet

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High blood pressure usually has no symptoms, but it can cause serious problems such as stroke, heart failure, heart attack and kidney failure. What is #bloodpressure? It is the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your arteries. Each time your heart beats, it pumps blood into the arteries. Your blood pressure is highest when your heart beats, pumping the blood. This is called systolic pressure. When your heart is at rest, between beats, your blood pressure falls. This is called diastolic pressure. Your blood pressure reading uses these two numbers. Usually the systolic number comes before or above the diastolic number.

A reading of:

• 119/79 or lower is normal blood pressure.
• 140/90 or higher is high blood pressure.
• Between 120 and 139 for the top number, or between 80 and 89 for the bottom number is called prehypertension. Prehypertension means you may end up with high blood pressure, unless you take steps to prevent it.

You can control high blood pressure through healthy lifestyle habits such as exercise and following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet and taking medicines, if needed. Along with DASH, other lifestyle changes can help lower your blood pressure. DASH is a flexible and balanced eating plan that helps create a heart-healthy lifestyle eating pattern.

DASH recommendations: DASH DIET GUIDE

• Eating vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.
• Including fat-free or low-fat dairy products, fish, poultry, beans, nuts, and vegetable oils.
• Limiting foods that are high in saturated fat, such as fatty meats, full-fat dairy products, and tropical oils such as coconut, palm kernel, and palm oils.
• Limiting sugar-sweetened beverages and sweets.

The DASH eating plan is easy to follow and includes a variety of foods to select from. The number of servings you should have depends on your daily calorie (energy) needs. First, review your current physical activity level.

Are you sedentary, moderately active, or active?

• Sedentary – light physical activity.
• Moderately active – physical activity includes walking about 1.5 to 3 miles a day at 3 to 4 miles per hour, plus light physical activity.
• Active – equal to walking more than 3 miles per day at 3 to 4 miles per hour, plus light physical activity.

Your NOAH Care Team is increasing awareness about the prevention and treatment of this life-threatening condition. Have you had your #bloodpressure checked recently? What does your current diet look like? Call us at 480-882-4545 or click here to request an appointment with us to find out how you can control high blood pressure through healthy lifestyle habits such as exercise and following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.