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Diagnosed With HBP. ECG Showed Normal. On Atacand. Suggest Some Diet Plan?
Question: Hi I'm XXXXXX from Australia 58 years old have been diagnosed with very high blood pressure but ECG and all other tests okay Doctor has just put me on Atacand Have been a smoker, coffee drinker, like my salt on foods and moderate alcohol drinker and physically work fairly hard Any recipes for life style from now on
Hi XXXXXX
Thanks for your query.
First of all please let me know your weight, because one of the most important things to do from now on is to keep a normal weight or to lose some weight if you are overweight.
I am sure you like your salt on foods, as we all do, but you have to decrease the salt as much as possible. Current recommendations is 2gm of sodium per day which is present in 1tea spoon. To add flavor you can add some herbs like mint, lemon, coriander etc. Your daily diet should certainly have 6 to 8 servings of fresh vegetables and fruit. In fact these should replace the canned / preserved food. A fist full of nuts (6 - 8) per day esp Walnut, Almond, Pistachios as one snack. Replace whole milk with slim milk. Space the meal correctly during the day and according to the medication. The lesser deviations from the planned day the better control over the blood pressure.
It is you good you have worked physically, because you have not been a sedentary person, but if you don't work anymore or if you work now something else which does not involve physical activity, then it is recommended to practice a sport. You don't have to get exhausted pushing it too much, but you have to avoid becoming sedentary.
From my experience, I always ask patients what means moderate alcohol drinker because a lot of times I found out that people easily overestimate or underestimate the alcohol quantity they have drinken. So please be more specific here, because we have to see if you should be more careful with alcohol or it is not the case.
I am looking forward to your answers.
If you have any more queries, feel free to ask.
Regards
Dr. Dorian Oana MD, PhD
Thanks for your query.
First of all please let me know your weight, because one of the most important things to do from now on is to keep a normal weight or to lose some weight if you are overweight.
I am sure you like your salt on foods, as we all do, but you have to decrease the salt as much as possible. Current recommendations is 2gm of sodium per day which is present in 1tea spoon. To add flavor you can add some herbs like mint, lemon, coriander etc. Your daily diet should certainly have 6 to 8 servings of fresh vegetables and fruit. In fact these should replace the canned / preserved food. A fist full of nuts (6 - 8) per day esp Walnut, Almond, Pistachios as one snack. Replace whole milk with slim milk. Space the meal correctly during the day and according to the medication. The lesser deviations from the planned day the better control over the blood pressure.
It is you good you have worked physically, because you have not been a sedentary person, but if you don't work anymore or if you work now something else which does not involve physical activity, then it is recommended to practice a sport. You don't have to get exhausted pushing it too much, but you have to avoid becoming sedentary.
From my experience, I always ask patients what means moderate alcohol drinker because a lot of times I found out that people easily overestimate or underestimate the alcohol quantity they have drinken. So please be more specific here, because we have to see if you should be more careful with alcohol or it is not the case.
I am looking forward to your answers.
If you have any more queries, feel free to ask.
Regards
Dr. Dorian Oana MD, PhD
Note: For further queries related to coronary artery disease and prevention, click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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