If your diagnosed with High Blood Pressure....?

Question

If you diagnosed with high blood pressure and should you immediately start cutting out as much sodium as you can in your diet? Or should you just cut back on sodium?

Answer 1

Depends on how high your blood pressure is and how much salt you are using and if they put you on medication.

I have had high blood pressure for 20 years. I have lost weight cut back on salt, started exercising and still require medication. Just keep in mind just because you do all the right things that sometimes you will always need medication.

Never go off your medication until your MD tells you too.

I hope that your MD gave you some diet instructions.

I would start now cutting way back for me eliminating it was impossible. But I need give up pickles, chips and salting everything.

Answer 2

When I was first diagnosed, my doctor was telling me all the usual stuff. Lose weight, exercise more, eat less sodium, blah blah blah. I told him it ain't gonna happen and put me on some medication.

Bottom line, I eat what I want and just take an extra little pill every day. Zestoretic if you are interested. Tell your doc to give you a pill. Better living thru chemistry. That's my motto.

However, here it is 2 years later, and I've recently decided it's time to lose the weight, and have lost 10 lbs so far. Not so much for the blood pressure, but just wanting to lose the weight in general.

Answer 3

You have to get your BP under control first. If you are overweight, drop a few pounds. Regular cardio work helps. Try to get about 30 minutes a day 3-5 days a week. Start slow, if you have to just do 10-15 minute sessions 2-3 times a day. Ask about a low sodium/salt diet. Avoid saturated fats, hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils. Ask about foods higher in potassium and calcium. Try to eat more fruits and veggies like apples, avocados, bananas, broccoli, grapes, oranges, and oats (oatmeal). Omega 3 rich foods can help, 2-3 times a week (like fish) as can other good fats (walnuts, olive oil). For some people, a table spoon or two of apple cider vinegar in a mug of warm water (sweetened with honey) can help with a lot of issues. Avoid caffeine. Be sure to get good rest, but not too much. A multivitamin supplement might help, as vitamins D, C, E, B (complex), folic acid, and niacin can all help. Watch the niacin though, because some people are sensitive to it (it can cause flushing, increased heart rate, and high blood pressure for them!). When your BP is running good, 120 or 110 over 80 or 70, then talk to your doctor about cutting down on your medication. You don't want to just come off it yourself. Some people are just hard wired to have a higher BP. Medication can help protect you from the damage it can do if you can't control it through diet and lifestyle changes. For stress, exercise can help a lot. Meditation is good too. Try guided mediation or mindfulness meditation. Good luck! _________________________________ EDIT: I would like to point out that dehydration is not likely the cause of your high blood pressure. If it were that simple, hypertension would be easy to eliminate! Many antihypertensive medications actually contain diuretics. By removing excess blood volume (removing extra water in your system) your cardiovascular system becomes a little more efficient and blood pressure is reduced. This doesn't work in all cases of hypertension. Some require that specific metabolic channels in the body be influenced with pharmaceuticals, others respond well to lifestyle or diet changes. The simple truth is that very few cases of hypertension have an identifiable cause. The vast majority of cases require you to work with your medical team to discover what combination of lifestyle changes and medication(s) work to keep your blood pressure in the safe zone. I can say with fair certainty that the other answerer doesn't understand hypertension. We really don't know the mechanisms that cause it. We do many of the mechanisms involved in it and how to manage it however.

Answer 4

sodium is bad plan and simple once you have high blood pressure it is hard to keep in check unless you reduce as much sodium as possible , i am not a fat person i had high blood pressure for a while and ignored it i had a triple bypass at age 33 that was 2 years ago it is a good idea to keep it in check and to start checking your cholesterol by age 28

Answer 5

You cut back on sodium altogether because sodium causes you to retain fluid which causes your blood pressure to raise.

Answer 6

Yes reduce sodium and increase calcium to about 1000mg per day. Potassium is also good too - can be found in foods like bananas or supplemented.

Answer 7

You should also add more exercise into your routine, add calcium to your diet and eat healthier in general. This is a huge topic. I recommend you look for a book on the subject.

Answer 8

cut out as much sodium as you can, increase fiber, and get more exercise and drink lots of water