High blood pressure patients need to follow some basic principles in their daily life, including diet and exercise, to assist in treatment. Below, I will introduce them one by one.
(1) Principles of Hypertension Diet
The basic principles of diet and health that hypertensive patients need to follow include: low salt, low fat, supplementing potassium, calcium, magnesium, iodine, zinc, iron, and vitamins.
(2) Hypertension Diet Do's and Don'ts
Carbohydrate Foods
Do: rice, porridge, noodles, buckwheat, oats, corn, konjac, kudzu starch, yam, soft beans.
Don't: sweet potatoes (foods that cause flatulence), dried beans, strongly flavored biscuits.
Protein Foods
Do: beef, lean pork, fish, rabbit meat, eggs, milk, dairy products, soy products.
Don't: fatty foods (such as fatty pork and ribs, whale meat, fresh fish, tuna, etc.), processed foods (sausages, etc.).
Fatty Foods
Do: vegetable oil, a small amount of butter.
Don't: animal fat.
Vitamins and Minerals Foods
Do: vegetables (garlic, onions, lian, yams, shiitake mushrooms, kelp, kudzu sprouts, seaweed, black fungus, bean sprouts, celery, radish, spinach, cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, lily roots, pumpkins, eggplants, cucumbers, bitter gourd, winter melon, etc.), fruits (oranges, mountain plants, bananas, persimmons, pineapples, fresh plums, sweet melons, apples, pears, grapes, watermelons, walnuts, etc.).
Don't: fibrous vegetables (beef, bamboo shoots, beans), strongly stimulating vegetables (spicy vegetables, mustard greens, onions).
Other Foods
Do: light fragrant tea, yeast milk drinks.
Don't: spices (chili, mustard, coffee, strong black tea, carbonated drinks, pickled foods, soy sauce cooked dishes, pickled vegetables), egg yolks, animal offal, fish roe, shrimp, crab roe, squid, etc.
(3) Key Points of Hypertension Diet
Balance your diet, fine-tune your meals, eat on time, and avoid overeating (80% full is appropriate). The recommended daily intake of carbohydrates, protein, minerals, and vitamins for elderly hypertensive patients is: calories between 1850 kcal and 2100 kcal.
① Staple food: rice, steamed buns, corn, millet, mung beans, sweet potatoes, etc., should be limited to 200-300 grams per day, and avoid or eat less sweets.
② Lean meat, eggs, poultry, and soy products are rich in protein, with a daily intake of 50-100 grams, mainly plant protein such as tofu.
③ Vegetables and fruits are rich in vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. The total amount of vegetables can be around 500 grams per day, which can be divided into 4-5 meals. Eating more vegetables and fruits can help lower blood lipids, diuresis, and blood pressure. It can also prevent hunger caused by dietary restrictions.
Limit fat intake, mainly using vegetable oil, and control daily fat intake to 15 grams (avoid rice soaked in soup) and try to avoid animal fat.
Moderate intake of protein.
Limit salt intake to less than 6 grams per day.
Eat more foods rich in potassium, calcium, and low in sodium, such as potatoes, eggplants, kelp, and kudzu. Eat more foods high in calcium, such as milk, yogurt, and shrimp. Eat less meat broth because it can increase the nitrogen leached out and promote the increase of uric acid in the body, increasing the burden on the heart, liver, and kidneys.
Eat more fresh vegetables and fruits. Eat no less than 400 grams of fresh vegetables and 100-200 grams of fruits every day.
Properly increase the intake of seafood, such as kelp, seaweed, and seafood fish.
Eat more vegetables rich in fiber, such as celery, leeks, cabbage, and spinach, to keep bowel movements regular. Straining during bowel movements can easily cause cerebral hemorrhage and angina in hypertensive patients.
Strictly control alcohol consumption. The daily alcohol consumption of hypertensive patients must be limited to within 50 mL, avoid drinking all at once, and absolutely prohibit excessive drinking.
In terms of drinking water, natural mineral water contains essential trace elements such as potassium, magnesium, zinc, iron, and iodine for the human body. However, after boiling, the beneficial calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc in the water will significantly decrease. Therefore, it is advisable to drink standard drinking water raw. Tea contains tea polyphenols, and the content in green tea is higher than that in black tea. It can prevent the oxidation of vitamin C, help the utilization of vitamin C in the body, and eliminate harmful chromium ions. In addition, it also contains trace elements such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and fluoride. Therefore, brewing 4-6 grams of tea leaves (equivalent to 2.3 cups of tea bags) every day is beneficial to the body. But remember to drink light tea and avoid strong tea and strong coffee.
If hypertensive patients can implement the above dietary principles persistently, it will be beneficial to their health.
In addition to following the above dietary principles, high blood pressure patients should use water at around 35 degrees Celsius when washing their face in the morning and evening. This is because water that is too hot or too cold can stimulate the skin receptors, causing the surrounding blood vessels to contract or expand, thereby affecting blood pressure.
Also, it is best for hypertensive patients to take a bath at least once a week, and the water temperature should not be too hot or too cold, around 35 degrees Celsius is appropriate, to avoid stimulating the contraction and expansion of small blood vessels in the skin and affecting blood pressure. Pay special attention to safety and avoid bathing in large baths to prevent falls. The soaking time should not be too long to avoid triggering a stroke.
When washing hair, hypertensive patients can use their ten fingers to gently rotate and massage from the top of the forehead to the back of the neck, about 20-30 times each time (you can also use a comb to comb your hair). This can stimulate the scalp nerve endings, promote blood circulation in the head through the cerebral cortex, improve scalp nutrition and sebum secretion, and help metabolism and regulate nerve function. It can relax tension, make the mind clear and the body comfortable, thereby reducing hypertension.
