Therapeutic Diet for Hypertension: Foods to Eat and Avoid for Better Blood Pressure Control

Therapeutic diet for a patient with hypertension.
Answer.

Reduce sodium (salt) – Reducing the amount of sodium you consume can lower blood pressure if you have high or borderline-high blood pressure. The main source of sodium in the diet is salt

Reduce alcohol – Drinking an excessive amount of alcohol increases your risk of developing high blood pressure.

Eat more fruits and vegetables – Adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet may reduce high blood pressure or protect against developing high blood pressure. A strict vegetarian diet may not be necessary.

Eat more fiber – Eating an increased amount of fiber may decrease blood pressure. The recommended amount of dietary fiber is 20 to 35 grams of fiber per day. Many breakfast cereals are excellent sources of dietary fiber. More information about increasing fiber is available separately. (See “Patient education: High-fiber diet (Beyond the Basics)”.)

Eat more fish – Eating more fish may help to lower blood pressure, especially when combined with weight loss [3].

Caffeine – Caffeine may cause a small rise in blood pressure, although this effect is usually temporary. Drinking a moderate amount of caffeine (less than 2 cups of coffee per day) does not increase the risk of high blood pressure in most people.

One of the steps your doctor may recommend to lower your high blood pressure is to start using the DASH diet.

DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The diet is simple:

Eat more fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods. Cut back on foods that are high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and trans fats. Eat more whole-grain foods, fish, poultry, and nuts. Limit sodium, sweets, sugary drinks, and red meats.