subject: It's Time To Diet Again [print this page] The leading causes of death worldwide are cardiovascular diseases (heart disease and stroke). Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is one of the primary cardiovascular risk factors. Its proportions are epidemic, as it affects more than 1000 million people or nearly one quarter of the adult population, two-thirds in the so-called developing countries. Factors related to the onset of hypertension include high alcohol consumption, overweight, low physical activity and dietary habits like high sodium or low potassium intake.
Recent research from different groups worldwide shows that patients diagnosed with hypertension, who need to take daily medication to control their blood pressure, could greatly benefit from the nightly administration of the drugs, results suggesting that cardiovascular trauma could thus be avoided up to a 50% of the cases. This is only one of a myriad studies focused on hypertension, many of them with valuable results, but few with such economic and health consequences: notice that a no-cost routine (changing administration to night hours) could lead to an amazing reduction in the amount of suffering and health-related costs.
For those hypertensives interested in reducing blood pressure in a more natural way, diet is at hand, although in low and middle-income countries this measure might prove unaffordable or even impossible. Dietary approaches to stop hypertension should be addressed differently depending on which resources are readily available to people in specific locations. In few words, the diet most recommended is the Mediterranean, which is proving a seemingly cure-all panacea for many conditions related to modern lifestyles. In the USA there is an acronym for diets that focus on reducing blood pressure: DASH, which is precisely derived from the previously mentioned Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension.
Call it what you will, it is based in the updated food pyramids we all know so well from last decades' health campaigns targeting dietary intake. General recommendations range from limiting overall salt consumption to including physical activity as a routine, as well as making the changes gradually: it encompasses a powerful modification of lifestyle, and should be approached gently, in order to ease acceptance. Alcohol and carbonated drinks intake, together with fast food, processed food, restaurant food, etc. should be avoided or greatly reduced. Saturated fats, too. Consumption of healthy snacks and low-fat dips is encouraged, instead of the typical junk food or chips with fat spreads. Hypertensives should increase consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables, decrease meat & sausages intake, opt for whole grain products and foods rich in fiber, drink more water, add pasta and legumes to their weekly menu and take low-fat dairy products. It looks like there is no end to the benefits of this type of diet!
