Caring for Hypertension

It is important to check your blood pressure on a regular basis. Hypertension or also known as high blood pressure is a very common occurrence in adults. There is no single defining cause of high blood pressure. There are a number of contributors to what can cause high blood pressure, such as eating fried foods, consuming fatty foods, excessive salt intake, eating fast foods, and other poor diet habits.

The sooner you know that you have hypertension the better it is. There are a number of changes that can be made to your diet to help lower high blood pressure. The first thing to do is eliminate adding extra salt to foods. Also check the salt content under the nutritional information. Many quick meals, labeled as healthy, contain well over 1000 mg of salt or more per serving. The recommended daily amount of sodium is 2000 mg.

The biggest change you will go through is changing your eating habits when caring for hypertension. It is easy to get a good start eating more healthily and then backslide into your old habits of greasy, deep-fried, salty fast foods. It can be difficult but the sooner you eliminate your old eating habits the healthier it is for you.

There are many products available at your local grocery stores that are sodium free. Fresh vegetables and fruit do not have any added sodium. There are numerous canned vegetables that are canned without sodium. Frozen vegetables typically do not contain sodium. Purchase lean cuts of beef and remove skins from chicken. Pork products should be avoided if they were already treated or are pre-packaged. There are sodium free butters and margarines available. If you want to add flavor to your food then you can use salt substitutes, like potassium chloride. Unsalted peanuts are a healthy snack option besides fresh fruits.