If you’re a woman with high blood pressure, then a recent Harvard study on hypertension in women should be of interest to you. Up until now, research on hypertension has been mainly on how it affects men. Over 83,000 women were followed over 14 years to see what behaviors increased or decreased the possibility of developing hypertension.
The six leading behaviors that decreased risk of hypertension are:
Normal weight. Maintaining your weight appropriate to your height and age. Having an appropriate Body Mass Index. Daily exercise. Work out vigorously at least 30 minutes each day. Low sodium DASH like diet heavy in fruits, vegetables and non-fat dairy products. Moderate alcohol intake. For a woman, one drink per day and it’s important to have that drink. Non drinkers had a higher risk than moderate drinkers. Infrequent use of analgesics. Less than twice per week. Daily folic acid supplementation.
Women who had all six of these behaviors reduced their risk of hypertension by 78%. That’s the good news. The bad news is the percentage of the women who were in the study that had all six behaviors was less than 15%. This may mean that for the average woman, living all six behaviors may be unrealistic.
The consensus of the doctors in the study was that weight, BMI and diet are probably the three most important factors in controlling or preventing high blood pressure. Seeing as the diet can impact on the weight, they suggest that is the area that most women should focus their attention.
The Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is one that is rich in vegetables, fruits and low or non-fat dairy products. While it encourages a large portion of food it discourages salt or sodium and red meat.
In a study group in New York, a group of both men and women with high blood pressure were placed on the diet. They were told not to do anything else, like exercise, to try to control their blood pressure. After 2 weeks all of the participants had lower blood pressure readings. None however had lost any weight. However, the biggest complaint of the participants was that the diet called for too much food at one sitting. If left on their own they would have eaten less and perhaps lost weight as well.
It appears that there is no one “Miracle” food but that it is the interaction of the different kinds of food that has the controlling affect on blood pressure.
It’s reassuring to know that we as individuals can do something to control the Silent Killer of hypertension. The problem of course is readjusting our diets and lifestyle to accommodate the cure. As a practical matter this might be difficult particularly if you have a family. Your change in diet will be a healthy change for the family as well but you will have to educate them as to why you aren’t having Mc Donalds for dinner anymore.
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