How should elderly individuals with hypertension eat? Hypertension can be managed through diet, but the right foods must be chosen. The elderly are a high-risk group for hypertension, so special attention should be paid to their diet. Here, we will introduce what elderly patients with hypertension can and cannot eat in their daily lives.
What should be noted about the diet for elderly hypertension?
Professor Cheng Kanglin, Chief Physician of the Department of Cardiology at the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University, stated in an interview with Family Doctor Online that maintaining a balanced diet starts with keeping daily meals light. This is because the sodium in salt can raise blood pressure and reduce the effectiveness of medication. Every day, one should consume appropriate amounts of grains, meats, proteins, vegetables, fruits, dairy, and calcium-rich foods, choosing those with lower calories. Additionally, daily intake of potassium supplements or potassium-rich foods should be noted. It is necessary to reduce components in food that are high in calories, such as fats, refined sugars, and pastries, and to appropriately control the intake of staple foods, eating more high-fiber foods like vegetables and fruits to prevent the onset of hypertension.
What is good for elderly hypertension?
Tea. Drinking more tea can greatly help prevent hypertension. Tea contains polyphenols, with green tea having a higher content than black tea. It can prevent the oxidation of vitamin C, help with the utilization of vitamin C in the body, and expel harmful chromium ions. It also contains trace elements such as potassium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, and fluorine. Therefore, steeping 4-6 grams of tea daily (equivalent to 2-3 bags of tea) and taking it long-term is beneficial to the human body.
Potatoes. A low-fat, low-calorie, and nutritious food, potatoes are rich in various antioxidants. A new study from the University of Scranton in the United States found that potatoes are also an excellent source of the trace element potassium, and eating them regularly can help lower blood pressure and protect the heart. Boiling or roasting potatoes with the skin on is best, as these methods do not add fat or calories and do not destroy the healthy nutrients in potatoes.
Skim milk. Skim milk is an ideal source of calcium and vitamin D. The combination of these two substances can help lower blood pressure by 3% to 10%. While this percentage may seem small, it can also reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease by 15%. Therefore, overall, skim milk is a very ideal food for lowering blood pressure.
Mung beans. Mung beans have a good effect of clearing internal heat and are also very beneficial for patients with hypertension. They not only help lower blood pressure and alleviate symptoms but also can prevent blood lipids from rising.
Garlic. Garlic is one of the most effective dietary secrets for lowering blood pressure. The sulfides in garlic help stabilize an enzyme in the human body, thereby avoiding the onset of hypertension. Multiple studies have found that people who regularly eat garlic have lower average blood pressure levels than other groups. Eating 2-3 cloves of garlic daily is the simplest and most effective way to lower blood pressure.
Dark chocolate. The American Medical Association has proven this amazing effect of dark chocolate for us. Hypertension patients can consume 30 calories of dark chocolate daily (about 14 grams) to help lower blood pressure without other adverse effects. Dark chocolate will also become an ideal food for hypertension patients.
Next, let's look at what should not be eaten for hypertension.
What should elderly hypertension not eat?
Animal protein. According to some laboratory studies, excessive intake of animal protein can greatly hinder the smooth recovery of patients with hypertension. Patients with hypertension should limit or avoid animal protein (such as animal liver, eggs), because the harmful substances produced by protein metabolism can cause blood pressure fluctuations. In daily diets, high-biological-value, high-quality proteins can be chosen, such as fish and milk. Certain proteins (such as taurine, tyrosine, etc.) have a blood pressure-lowering effect.
Dog meat. Although there are many causes of hypertension, most belong to the nature of yin deficiency and yang hyperactivity. Dog meat warms the kidneys and enhances yang, which can worsen the condition of hypertension of yin deficiency and yang hyperactivity. For other types of hypertension, such as kidney yang deficiency, floating yang disturbing the upper part, phlegm-fire accumulation, or blood stasis blocking the collaterals, eating dog meat can agitate floating yang, worsen phlegm-fire, or help fire dry the blood, all of which are unfavorable to the condition. Therefore, it should not be consumed.
High-calorie foods. One of the important methods for the effective auxiliary treatment of hypertension is to keep body weight within the normal range, so patients with hypertension should strictly limit the consumption of high-calorie foods. High-calorie foods (glucose, sucrose, chocolate, etc.) can induce obesity, and the incidence of hypertension in obese people is higher than in those of normal weight. Many patients with hypertension also have overweight or obesity. Therefore, patients should limit high-calorie foods in their diet.
Spicy foods. Spicy and refined foods can make stools dry and difficult to pass, easily leading to constipation. When patients defecate, it will increase abdominal pressure, cause a sudden rise in blood pressure, and trigger cerebral hemorrhage. Therefore, patients with hypertension should avoid spicy and refined foods.
The specific diet for elderly hypertension should be consulted with a relevant doctor.