At NYCC we see the power of healthy diet and lifestyle in improving and preventing chronic disease.  Our doctors and dietitian work closely with patients to help them make realistic changes in their diet and activity patterns.  Here are some tips to control high blood pressure.

High blood pressure is a serious condition that can lead to coronary artery disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure, & other vascular problems.  People who have high blood pressure can take steps to control it & reduce their risks for heart and vascular problems.  While making dietary and lifestyle changes can improve your blood pressure, it is important to keep taking your high blood pressure medication.

If you want to lower your blood pressure or maintain a healthy blood pressure level follow these five basic recommendations:

Healthy Weight:Maintain a healthy weight or if you are overweight, work on reducing your weight.

Regular Activity: Aim to do at least 30 min. of activity most days.

Limit Alchohol: If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation.

Do Not Smoke: If you smoke, try to quit.

Reduce Sodium, Increase Potassum: Limit your intake of foods with added salt and increase your intake of foods rich in potassium, calcium, and magnesium by emphasizing fruits, vegetables, beans, lean dairy products, and whole grains in your diet.

Salt contains sodium and consumption of salty foods increases blood pressure. Foods rich in potassium help to lower blood pressure.

Beware of hidden sodium. Even if you do not add salt to your foods, your diet may be high in sodium because many packaged foods contain lots of added salt.   Some foods such as soups, breakfast cereals, corn products, canned products, cottage cheese & cheese, and tomato products as well as over-the-counter medicines like antacids can have a lot of sodium in them even though they do not seem to taste very salty.

Read food labels to lower your sodium intake.  These list the amount of sodium in one serving of the food.  The % Daily Value (%DV) is the percentage of the daily sodium limit in one serving of the food.

When comparing labels: If the %DV is less than 10% than the food is not so high in sodium but if it is 25% or more, try to choose a lower sodium option.

If you have heart health risk factors, aim to consume less than 1500 mg of sodium each day. This is less than 2/3 of a teaspoon of salt  from all dietary sources.  Keeping sodium this low is very difficult and demands careful label reading and food selection.  If you do not have heart health risk factors, aim to consume less than 2,300 mg per day of sodium.  This means getting less than 1 teaspoon of salt from all dietary intake per day.