Lowering Blood Pressure without Medication
As with many health conditions, tackling high blood pressure without medication focuses on diet and exercise! The main diet that is recommended is referred to as the DASH diet - Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The essentials of the DASH diet include fruits, vegetables, legumes, and low fat dairy while limiting sweets, meat, and intake of saturated fat. Specifically, the diet calls for:
4-5 servings each day of fruit. An example of one serving would be a medium apple, or 1/2 cup berries.
4-5 servings each day of vegetables. The serving size for vegetables depends on cooked vs uncooked. For example, a serving size of fresh spinach is 2 cups, whereas a serving size of cooked broccoli is 1/2 cup.
2-3 servings each day of low fat dairy, such as 1 cup of milk or yogurt, or 1.5oz of cheese.
6-8 servings each day of whole grains. Ideally look for high fiber as well. 1 slice of wheat bread, 1 oz dry cereal, 1/2 cup whole wheat pasta are all good options.
2-3 servings each day of healthy fats. Healthy fats can be found in nuts (1/3 cup for a serving), olive oil (1 tsp), and fish like salmon.
4-5 servings each week of legumes or nuts. For these serving sizes, aim for about 1/2 cup of cooked beans or chickpeas.
Limit salt intake to less than 2300mg per day
Limit alcohol intake (less than 1 drink per day on avg for women, 2 for men)
As with exercise recommendations that I make, try not to do everything at once! Set yourself specific goals and plan ahead. For example, maybe right now you drive through for breakfast on your way to work as part of your routine. Instead, set a goal to have a breakfast of 1 cup of yogurt with 1/2 cup of berries and a slice of toast two days per week. If you are usually pretty good with breakfast but struggle when it comes to dinner, set a goal of cooking 2 days per week instead, and plan the meal over the weekend so you can hit the grocery store and have the necessary ingredients on hand. Maybe one night you bake salmon served with brussel sprouts roasted in olive oil. A vegetable stir-fry using a reduced sodium soy sauce and brown rice can be dinner on another night. Check out more sample menus from Mayo Clinic or Cleveland Clinic. Another great website for healthy eating tips and examples is Myplate.gov.
Sticking to the DASH diet consistently for 2 weeks has been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure (the top number) in those with hypertension by about 10 mmHg! Combine this with an exercise routine and weight loss, and you can most likely avoid blood pressure medication while at the same time lowering your risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and many many other health conditions. So start small, start slow, but start today!
