The diet that could lower your blood pressure and boost heart health
Adopting a diet centred on reducing salt intake could significantly decrease your blood pressure and risk of heart complications. There are numerous risk factors that can heighten your likelihood of experiencing heart disease at any stage in your life. These include diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, frequent and intense stress, and elevated blood pressure.
Thankfully, many of the risk factors linked to an increased risk of heart disease can be mitigated and potentially avoided. For instance, high blood pressure can often be lowered by restricting the amount of salt you consume in your daily diet.
Diet to reduce salt and lower blood pressure
The Dietary Approaches to Stopping Hypertension (DASH) diet is centred on consuming and avoiding foods directly associated with higher blood pressure. Moreover, the diet could potentially aid in reducing overall body fat percentage and cholesterol due to its emphasis on certain healthy foods.
NHS advice also underscores that excessive salt consumption has been directly tied to an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes. It further pointed out that it's all too easy for individuals to overconsume salt given the prevalence of packaged foods, meat products, ready meals, restaurants, and takeaways which often contain hefty amounts of salt.
On average, adults are advised not to exceed 6g of salt a day - the equivalent of one level teaspoon. This includes salt already present in food before any additional is added during cooking.
Common foods eaten in a DASH diet
A study from the New England Journal of Medicine involving 412 participants who followed either a typical western diet or the DASH diet found that those adhering to the latter had lower blood pressure. In contrast, those on a typical diet experienced significantly higher blood pressure and sodium levels.
The study also emphasised that the long-term health benefits would likely depend on the duration of significant dietary changes.
If you're considering the DASH diet, your focus should be on consuming foods low in sodium but rich in essential vitamins and minerals. This could involve eating more:
Nuts
Beans
Seeds
Lean poultry
Fish
Leafy green vegetables
Low-fat dairy
However, the DASH diet may not be right for everyone and will depend on your unique dietary needs. If you plan on making a significant change to your eating habits, you should first speak to your GP or a healthcare professional.
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