Lowering High Blood Pressure Tips
Understanding How The Dash Diet For High Blood Pressure Works
 Hypertension is a silent killer. In many individuals, the condition does not manifest any symptoms that could warn the victims regarding the state of their health. As a result, many people never realize they have high blood pressure until problems begin to occur. Thankfully, the condition can be managed and if treated early, it may even be significantly improved. One of the approaches for treating hypertension naturally is the dash diet for high blood pressure. But does it work?
What is DASH?
DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The high blood pressure dash diet was developed and tested by the NHLBI (National Heart, Lung & Blood Institute). The dash diet plan is simple: limit the intake of foods containing sodium and salt in order to prevent and control blood pressure. It also recommends the use of magnesium, potassium and calcium, minerals that are also effective in regulating blood pressure.
The dash diet for high blood pressure also encourages the increase in the intake of fruits, vegetables, low-fat milk and dairy products, meat and whole grains.
How does DASH work exactly?
 To understand how the dash diet for high blood pressure works, it is important to understand how hypertension occurs. The human body is designed to retain sodium, one of the components of salt. While efficient, this process can present a problem, particularly for the kidneys. The kidneys are the organs responsible for conserving and eliminating salt. In a person with a healthy diet, the kidneys can efficiently work to regulate the amount of sodium in the body. But in individuals with a high-salt intake, more salt is conserved in the body that the kidneys can efficiently handle.
This increases the circulatory volume, leading to increased fluid pressure on the walls of the blood vessels. As a result, the walls thicken and become narrow, making it difficult for blood to pass through. This in turn increases the required amount of pressure necessary to move the blood. In order to keep up, the heart has to work harder than it should.
If salt intake is not controlled and the condition continues, it will lead to hypertension which could also cause kidney disease. The goal of the DASH diet is to lessen and regulate sodium in the body in order to prevent overworking the heart and the kidneys. Using the DASH eating plan, individuals must reduce sodium intake to just 1,500mg a day, which is even lower than the recommended 2,300mg a day recommended by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health & Human Services.
The diet also encourages cutting down on alcohol to protect both the kidneys and the liver. The healthier these organs are, the better the body will be at eliminating toxins and excess minerals.
Is the dash diet for high blood pressure effective?
Studies have shown that DASH can be effective in regulating blood pressure. Researchers discovered that subjects who participated in the DASH study and used the diet had lower blood pressure readings than those who did not. Even better, the volunteers achieved this after only a few weeks of eating the recommended foods.
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