Diet for High Cholesterol and High Blood Pressure Patients

2007-04-17 10:41:55

( Health )



High cholesterol levels and high blood pressure are two major risk factors for the development of life-threatening diseases and events, such as heart attack and stroke. It is thus crucial to prevent these diseases by adopting measures that can lower your cholesterol and blood pressure levels.

Majority of patients with high cholesterol and blood pressure levels are overweight or obese. For this reason, weight loss, using a specific exercise regimen and a special diet for high cholesterol and blood pressure, is one of the primary goals of non-pharmacologic treatment.

The preferred diet for high cholesterol and high blood pressure patients involves limiting your intake of saturated fat, cholesterol and calories. This involves decreasing your intake of butter, fatty meat, fried food, chicken skin, cakes and sweets, junk food and alcohol, to enumerate a few. A diet for high blood pressure additionally involves restricting your salt intake.

A diet for high cholesterol and high blood pressure encourages you to choose healthier alternatives to satisfy your hunger. Eating roasted, baked or boiled food over fried ones is suggested. It is also recommended that you eat foods that are high in fiber, including fruits and vegetables. Make sure you also drink plenty of water daily. It is also necessary to limit your serving sizes. Creating a food diary and joining diet groups may help you stick to your diet.

There are numerous diets advertised in the market and in the Internet; a few of these fad diets work, while most of them don’t. Crash diets and fasting are not safe, and typically result in you losing more muscle and water than fat. Yo-yo dieting is also unhealthy and not effective. These forms of dieting may result in depression, weakness, irritability and decreased sexual drive.

There are also other ways to lose weight, such as using diet pills. However, most diet pills have dangerous side effects, including kidney disease and heart attack.

Exercise also helps you lose weight, by burning excess calories. You do not have to go to the gym to exercise; you can incorporate it in your daily routine. Regularly walking, biking and doing other such activities are exercises that you can do at home.

Eliminating your vices, such as smoking, also promotes a healthy lifestyle and decreases the risk of developing these diseases and their complications.

If these lifestyle changes don’t lower your cholesterol and high blood pressure levels, then it may be necessary for you to use medications. Consult your physician on what drugs you should take.


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