Читать книгу DASH Diet For Dummies - Sarah Samaan - Страница 42

High blood pressure usually develops over time, starting with a condition known as pre-hypertension, an important health issue we tell you more about in Chapter 6. Note that these numbers are lower than they used to be. The High Blood Pressure Guidelines were modified in 2017. Picture-perfect blood pressure is pegged at around 115/75. Doctors don’t classify blood pressure as hypertensive until the systolic blood pressure (the top number) gets to 130 to 139 or the diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) hits 80 or above (see Chapter 6). In between, you have elevated blood pressure when your blood pressure is running at about 121 to 129 over 80. As many as 50 percent of Americans, fit this profile. More concerning is that about 20 percent don’t even realize they have hypertension, so it’s important to get your blood pressure checked regularly.

When you’re living in the pre-hypertensive zone, you carry a higher risk for heart disease and stroke than someone whose pressure is normal. To be more precise, every 20-point rise in systolic blood pressure or 10-point rise in diastolic blood pressure doubles the risk of heart disease and stroke. In this range, medications aren’t recommended. Instead, pre-hypertension is a wake-up call to get working on a healthy way of life. Say hello to DASH.

DASH is often thought of as a high blood pressure diet, but it was designed to help people with pre-hypertension as well. In order to get into the study, a blood pressure higher than 120/80 was required. If you’re pre-hypertensive, you can expect to drop your systolic blood pressure by a very respectable 7 points. For many people with pre-hypertension, that’s enough to move back into the normal range.

How does DASH work its magic on blood pressure? For starters, it’s abundant in fruits and vegetables. Plants provide a wealth of health-boosting vitamins, antioxidants, and phytochemicals (see Chapter 5 for more about these disease-fighting substances), and they’re loaded with blood pressure–friendly potassium. Potassium works in opposition to sodium, lessening its effect on blood pressure. It may also have beneficial effects on the tone and health of your blood vessels. A potassium bonanza, DASH provides twice the amount of potassium found in a typical Western diet. Of course, it’s also low in sodium.

DASH also promotes consumption of low-fat dairy, and research has found that a diet rich in low-fat dairy products such as yogurt and low-fat milk and cheese has consistently been linked to lower blood pressure. In the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Family Heart Study, those with the greatest intake of dairy products were about one-third less likely to have hypertension. Not only do these foods provide a great source of calcium, which helps keep your arteries strong and flexible, but with DASH, they also replace less-healthy saturated fats and processed foods.

Wondering whether you can pop some potassium and calcium supplements and get the same effect as if you were eating foods rich in these nutrients? Forget it! Your body is an expert at extracting nutrients from food, but unless you have a medical deficiency, supplements won’t do the same job. In addition, DASH promotes modest weight loss, which also leads to lower blood pressure. You can’t expect to eat a burger and fries followed by a potassium chaser and get the same effect.