Weight loss, change of diet help cut blood pressure
One of the best ways to lower pressure is to lose weight if you are overweight. Weight loss reliably brings pressure down. Cut way back on salt. That means avoiding salty foods, like most commercial soups and luncheon meats.
Adopt the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet. I’ve mentioned it many times. It works. In short, it is a diet that stresses whole grains, fruits and vegetables. The diet requires people eat four or five servings of both fruits and vegetables every day. That sounds a bit much, but it really isn’t. A fruit serving is an apple or a pear or a quarter-cup of dried fruit. A vegetable serving is a half-cup of cooked vegetables or a cup of leafy vegetables.
The diet also calls for seven grain servings a day. Examples of one grain serving are a slice of whole-grain bread, a half-cup of rice or a half-cup of dry cereal.
Keep meat and poultry to a minimum — only two servings a day. A serving is 3 ounces, about the size of a deck of cards.
Finally, and this you’ll like, eat a third-cup of nuts four or five times a week.
