Wellness starts with a healthy diet. In fact, eating healthier foods improves many health problems.
This includes high blood pressure (hypertension). The right foods can lower your blood pressure.
Your doctor may recommend the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet to lower your blood pressure and your LDL (bad cholesterol).
In a recent interview with dietitian Mbali Mapholi, she said hypertension is a common condition that affects many South Africans.
“Worldwide, hypertension is one of the leading causes of cardiovascular diseases such as heart attack and stroke. Hypertension can also lead to kidney damage and loss of vision if left untreated and uncontrolled.
“Risk factors that may increase your likelihood of developing hypertension can be largely linked to lifestyle choices such as diet, physical activity, smoking, stress, and being overweight or obese.
“Non-lifestyle factors include family history, progressing age (above 65), and having other co-existing conditions such as diabetes,” said Mapholi.
She said to help reduce the burden of hypertension, the most important thing to know is what your measures are.
“Blood pressure is often nicknamed the silent killer in that most people are unaware they have the problem due to there being no warning signs or symptoms.
“So the first thing to do for prevention is to check your blood pressure regularly. Thereafter ensuring you are following a lifestyle that supports healthy blood pressure or managing high blood pressure.
“Diet will have a big role to play in how effectively you can manage your blood pressure. There are a few key points to apply to your diet to ensure the best outcomes.
“The DASH diet is a group of recommendations which have been grouped together and is recommended as one of the best approaches to help prevent, manage, and treat hypertension,” added Mapholi.
What does the DASH diet focus on?
- Fruits - 4-5 servings daily
- Vegetables - 4-5 servings daily
- Whole grains - 6-8 servings daily
- Lean meats - 6 or fewer servings daily
- Low-fat dairy - 2-3 servings daily
- Nuts and seeds - 4-5 servings weekly
- Fats and oils - 2-3 servings daily
- Sweets or added sugars - 5 or fewer servings weekly
She said the intake of these fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean meats is emphasised and encouraged over red meat, saturated fats, salt, and added sugars.
With this in mind, if you are on the DASH diet or you are keen on trying it out, there is a new healthy cookbook that has been launched this Heart Awareness Month by South Africa's leading cardiovascular medicines provider, Pharma Dynamics and the Heart and Stroke Foundation SA (HSFSA) to help South Africans control their blood pressure by following the diet.
A spokesperson for Pharma Dynamics, Nicole Jennings said while family history plays a role, hypertension is often due to an unhealthy diet, which prompted the development of the DASH cookbook – the fifth instalment in the Cooking from the Heart cookbook series.
Chief Executive Officer of the Heart and Stroke Foundation SA, Pamela Naidoo said hypertension is most often associated with unhealthy lifestyle choices, which they are trying to curb by encouraging people to follow the DASH diet, and the cookbook is completely free to the public and contains 10 tasty, no-fuss recipes with advice on how to structure meals based on DASH guidelines.
The Cooking from the Heart DASH cookbook can be downloaded from cookingfromtheheart.co.za.