Hypertension is a common and frequent disease in modern society, and with the accelerated pace of life and changes in lifestyle, more and more people are suffering from hypertension. In recent years, with the improvement of living standard and the enhancement of self-health awareness of our residents, the awareness rate, treatment rate and control rate of hypertension have increased to a certain extent, and more and more patients with hypertension have been treated with medication. However, there are a large number of hypertensive patients who have taken oral antihypertensive drugs but neglected lifestyle changes, not knowing that changing unreasonable or unhealthy lifestyles is the basis of hypertension treatment. Among people’s lifestyles, diet is one of the important parts. Here we will briefly introduce the DASH dietary pattern, a dietary pattern aimed at lowering blood pressure levels.
The DASH dietary pattern was developed from a major hypertension prevention and treatment program in the United States in 1997, and its main elements are: increasing the intake of fruits, vegetables, healthy fats and low-fat (or skim) dairy products, and reducing the intake of fats and oils (especially animal fats and oils rich in saturated fatty acids), thus increasing the intake of potassium, calcium and magnesium. There are more and more processed foods in modern society, such as cookies, chips, cheese sauce, canned food that can be found everywhere in supermarkets, fried, barbecued and fast food from roadside stalls. If you often consume these foods, it will lead to excessive sodium intake and insufficient intake of potassium, calcium and magnesium, which will lead to an increase in blood pressure. Potassium, calcium, and magnesium are usually found in fruits, vegetables, and dairy products. Studies have found that strict adherence to the DASH diet pattern for 8 weeks can lower blood pressure by 8-10%, which is equivalent to an antihypertensive pill.
Here is a list of recommended DASH diet foods that can be used as a reference for your daily diet.
Type
Recommended Daily Intake
Low-fat or skim milk and dairy products
2-3 servings per day (1 serving means 225 grams of milk, 1 cup of yogurt or 40 grams of cheese)
Fruits
4-5 servings per day (1 serving means 1 medium-sized fruit, ½ cup chopped fruit, 110 g (½ cup) fruit juice, or ¼ cup dried fruit), try to choose fruit over fruit juice.
Vegetables
4-5 servings per day (1 serving means 1 cup of lettuce or uncooked leafy vegetables, ½ cup of chopped or cooked vegetables, or 110 g (½ cup) of vegetable juice), try to choose vegetables over vegetable juice.
Grains and cereals
6-8 servings per day (1 serving means ½ cup of rice, interview or cooked cereal, 30 grams of dry cereal or 1 slice of bread), choosing whole grain products whenever possible.
Lean meat, poultry, fish
Less than 2 servings per day (1 serving means 85 grams, equivalent to the size of 1 deck of playing cards)
Legumes, nuts, seeds
4-5 servings per week (1 serving means 1/3 cup of nuts, 2 tablespoons of seeds, or ½ cup of cooked dry beans or peas)
Fats and oils
2-3 servings per day (1 serving means 1 teaspoon of soft margarine or vegetable oil, or 2 tablespoons of salad dressing)
Candy and supplemental sugar
Less than 5 servings per week (1 serving means 1 tablespoon of sugar or jam, 15 grams of sugar snap peas (about 20), or 1 cup of lemonade)
Recommended recipes.
Breakfast: 1 serving of oatmeal, 1 banana and 1 cup of low-fat milk.
Lunch: 1 whole wheat bread, chicken, salad (cucumber, tomato).
Snack: almonds (unsalted), raisins and ½ cup fat-free and sugar-free fruit yogurt.
Dinner: 85 grams of beef, beef broth, green beans, potatoes, onions, 1 apple, 1 cup of low-fat milk.
It should be noted that the foods recommended in the above table and recipes are based on the diet of European and American countries, which is still somewhat different from our own.
What you should pay attention to is.
1, the general principle is more fruits, more vegetables, more low-fat (or nonfat) dairy products, the diet should be more whole grains, poultry, fish, nuts, etc., less fat, less red meat, less sweets.
2, bread should be whole wheat bread, or use unrefined rice, millet rice instead of refined vegetable oil or shortening (containing trans fatty acids) toasted bread; oatmeal should be used pure oatmeal, rather than added sugar compound oatmeal.
3, salads can be replaced by jellyfish with shredded cucumber, steamed eggplant or tossed tomatoes.
4, Chinese meals in less application of butter, can choose rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids of vegetable oils, such as olive oil, sunflower oil, soybean oil, flax oil, etc., cooking to avoid high temperature.