High blood pressure has no obvious symptoms, but it is likely to cause significant chronic illness, such as heart attack (myocardial infarction), stroke, diabetes, or kidney disease. High blood pressure is related to a high content of salt, oil and calories. diet. There is a 7-day dietary intervention that could be effective in improving blood pressure.
According to the WHO, more than a billion people worldwide, more than one in four men and one in five women, have high blood pressure. The number of people aged 30 to 79 with hypertension has increased from 650 million to 1.28 billion in the last 30 years.
PINCH?
A diet to lower blood pressure has been nicknamed the DASH Diet: Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. Some call it the healthiest diet, because it’s also good for blood sugar control, weight control, and lowering the risk of heart disease and stroke.
It is often recommended for periods of two weeks to regulate the patient’s blood pressure.
The diet is generally low in sodium and rich in magnesium, calcium, potassium, dietary fiber, unsaturated fatty acids, and high-quality protein. The intake of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol in fats is reduced, foods with a high sugar content are completely avoided, as well as alcohol and red meat.
However, a vegana low-fat, high-fiber, cholesterol-free diet was shown to reduce patients’ blood pressure in just one week.
Dr. John A. McDougall presented their dietary intervention research finding in 2014 with over 1600 participants; their “systolic blood pressure decreased by a median (IQR) of 8 (18) mm Hg (p < 0.001), diastolic blood pressure by a median (IQR) of 4 (10) mm Hg (p < 0.001), and glucose in blood by a median (IQR) of 3 (11) mg/dL (p < .001).”
“Medications for hypertension and diabetes were reduced or discontinued initially to decrease the risk of hypotension and hypoglycemia. Cholesterol-lowering drugs (statins) continued throughout the program for those people who were taking this class of drugs when they entered the program.”
“This study documents that a low-fat (≤10% of calories), high-fiber, and high-carbohydrate (~80% of calories) vegan diet allows overweight patients to lose weight even if they eat enough food to feel healthy. completely satisfied. , ad libitum. Following such a diet for 7 days, participants lost an average of 3 pounds (1.4 kg) and had significant improvements in blood pressure, blood lipids, and blood sugar.”
“For patients whose risk of a cardiovascular event within 10 years was >7.5% at baseline, the risk was reduced to 5.5% (>27%) at day 7 (p < 0.001)," according to the article published in Nutrition Magazine.
Are vegans healthier?
Dysautonomia expert Dr. Wei-Hwa Chen explained that vegans generally have lower rates of hypertension.
“Is because a plant-based diet contains more potassium, magnesium, dietary fiber, phytochemicals, and unsaturated fatty acids,” said Dr. Chen. “These are all good cardiovascular nutrients. In addition, plant-based foods do not contain cholesterol and are low in saturated fat.
By switching to this diet, people get more of the essential nutrients that they would otherwise avoid in their normal diets. The typical American diet, as well as other environmental factors, has left most Americans deficient in many nutrients.
“Potassium allows the body to get rid of excess sodium and helps regulate blood pressure. Magnesium helps maintain the elasticity of the blood vessel walls and reduces the risk of atherosclerosis (accumulation of fats in the walls of the arteries),” said Dr. Chen.
“Dietary fiber improves the state of intestinal bacteria, absorbs cholesterol and excretes it from the body. The anti-inflammatory effect of phytochemicals can protect blood vessels, prevent arteriosclerosis, and benefit blood circulation.
“Unsaturated fatty acids can be divided into monounsaturated fats and polyunsaturated fats; both help lower the level of bad cholesterol in the body,” said Dr. Chen. “So, plant-based diets help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, because the gut microbiota tends not to produce toxic metabolites compared to a meaty diet.”
TMAO and the Microbiome
2013 study for him Cleveland Clinic discovered that the liver produces TMAO (trimethylamine-N-oxide), a heart-damaging metabolite, after gut bacteria digest L-carnitine (found in red meat) and lecithin (found in egg yolks, whole meats and dairy products) ).
Dr. Chen explained that TMAO alters cholesterol metabolism, resulting in excess cholesterol in the blood, which accumulates in the arterial walls and leads to vascular atherosclerotic lesions, which in turn will increase blood pressure and worsen atherosclerosis.
Lecithin and L-carnitine are essential nutrients found in both meat and vegetables.
However, the intestinal microflora will produce more TMAO when the diet is rich in meat, especially red meat. Heavy meat eaters are also more prone to cardiovascular disease. In contrast, the vegetarians had a protective gut microbiome that produced little TMAO.
Dr. Chen noted that for people who can’t stick to a vegan diet, they could start with a DASH diet, which emphasizes soy products, which are better than fish, shellfish, eggs, and white meat; Red meat should be avoided as much as possible. However, it is not recommended that meat eaters take supplements rich in L-carnitine and lecithin without medical supervision, which may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
.
