Treatment for hypertension includes both prescription medication and healthy lifestyle changes. If the condition isnt treated, it could lead to health issues, including heart attack and stroke.
Environment: Over time, unhealthy lifestyle choices like lack of physical activity and poor diet can take their toll on your body. Lifestyle choices can lead to weight problems. Being overweight or obese can increase your risk for hypertension.
A plant-based diet is an easy way to reduce the amount of sodium and saturated and trans fat you take in from dairy foods and meat. Increase the number of fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, and grains youre eating. Instead of red meat, opt for healthier lean proteins like fish and poultry.
People with hypertension and those with an increased risk for heart disease should aim to keep their daily sodium intake around 1,500 milligrams. The best way to reduce sodium is to cook more often. Avoid eating restaurant food or prepackaged foods, which are often very high in sodium.
Women with hypertension can deliver healthy babies despite having the condition. But it can be dangerous to both mother and baby if its not monitored and treated during the pregnancy.
Slowly work your way up to eating more servings of heart-healthy plants. Aim to eat more than seven servings of fruits and vegetables each day. Then aim to add one more serving per day for two weeks. After those two weeks, aim to add one more serving.
Instead of having meat and three sides, create a dish that uses meat as a condiment. In other words, instead of eating a steak with a side salad, eat a bigger salad and top it with a smaller portion of steak.