The origin of the disease is diverse. Some of the factors that predispose to this disease are:
- Obesity
- Resistance to the insulin
- Genetic factors
- low birth weight
- sedentary lifestyle
- Inadequate diet with high salt intake
- smoking
Blood pressure can be controlled at home with sphygmomanometers that are purchased in pharmacies, in healthy stations, that are found in squares and public spaces, in the doctor’s office, among others. The maximum limit values are greater than or equal to 140 mm Hg for the maximum pressure and 90 mm Hg for the minimum pressure. In the presence of these values or higher, people should quickly contact medical assistance to normalize them.
Hypertension (hypertension) is the cause of strokes and cardiovascular diseases, but with a healthy lifestyle they can be prevented.
Not all people feel symptoms at the time of having high blood pressure, some have a very pronounced headache, others feel a strange sensation in the head, others have no symptoms, and some people think they have low blood pressure, but when controlling it the value is high. It is important to measure yourself and not self-medicate, putting salt under the tongue as it can cause an even bigger problem.
Regarding food, we always appeal to prevention, so the recommendation is to increase the consumption of fresh, natural foods that are low in sodium. Increase the consumption of fruits and vegetables that contain potassium and prevent the increase in blood pressure, therefore the problem appears mainly when consuming excessively processed foods such as: broths, instant soups, dressings, snacks, soft drinks, preserves, foods in brine, breads and cookies (sweet and salty), cold cuts/sausages, cured meats, even in sweet foods such as bills or cakes there is also the presence of sodium
Once the patient has been diagnosed and medicated, they should continue with a low-sodium diet, that is, without added salt. The main reasons are two: on the one hand, sodium interferes with the proper functioning of the medication and can decrease its effectiveness. On the other hand, a medicated person who has normal blood pressure values is still hypertensive, so they should not consume salt.
A good strategy to replace salt in meals is to use aromatic seasonings: oregano, rosemary, cinnamon, allspice, garlic and many more.
Dietary or modified salts: I personally do not recommend its use because more is usually used due to the belief that it has less sodium. It is much better to reeducate the palate from an early age by lowering the threshold of saltiness.
Pillars of treatment for hypertension:
- keep a healthy weight
- Reduction of salt consumption to 5 grams per day, currently twice as much is consumed on average (10 gr)
- Regular physical activity
- Give up smoking
- Increase consumption of natural foods
- drink plenty of water
- Medication indicated by a clinician or cardiologist
Obesity nutritionist (M.N. 9739) Instagram: @lic.aracelivallone
Source: Ambito
