Foods, Ingredients, Hypertension and Your Kitchen
Looking for recipes to help with your hypertension (high blood
pressure). Try a gluten free,
and/or MSG free diet with no preservatives
and additives.
More often than not our health is failing us as we rush to maintain busy
schedules to keep pace with society. Finding the right foods to select and
eat daily to help maintain a healthy and productive life gets complicated.
You can take steps to becoming a healthier you by avoiding certain products,
additives, and ingredients when purchasing food items.
- Gluten, a contributor to well
kept health problems is found in bread, pastas, cereal and other wheat
enriched foods.
- MSG is found in seasoning, and
can goods.
- Artificial sweeteners with Aspartame are
a hazard to your health.
- Sugar is in everything contributing
to many health related illnesses (Read tables and reduce this ingredient).
- Salt (sodium) is right at the top with MSG for hypertension (Sea Salt
is a better substitute, lower your intake).
- Processed or fast foods
When shopping for spices, make sure they do not contain MSG. Look for all
natural products that work just as well as MSG or salt. Look for gluten free
and/or wheat free labels to reduce the amount of Gluten that you may consume
each day. You should also consider food from the medical recommended list.
- Increase intake of high-fiber foods such as Rice brand, spelt bread,
carrots, beans, brown rice, bran gluten free cereal, psyllium (Metamucil),
and vegetables.
- Increase use of monounsaturated oils such as olive and canola oils and
omega-3 fatty acids from certain fish (salmon, tuna, halibut, rainbow trout,
sardines, and anchovies) and flax seed oil. (If pregnant/nursing, avoid
high levels of mercury, often found in tuna, shark etc.)
- Reduce consumption of simple sugars (sodas, sweets, etc.) and refined
starches (white/wheat bread, white rice, pasta, and others made from white
flour). You may substitute these items with tea, spelt break, brown rice,
rice noodles, and spelt flour.
- Consume a variety of fruits and vegetables for their protective antioxidant
and phytochemical constituents.
- Choose lean, high quality protein sources such as chicken, turkey, lean
beef, fish, low-fat cottage cheese, and beans.
- Limit alcohol consumption to no greater than 2 ounces of wine, beer,
or distilled spirits daily. (Red wine is preferred-generally men should
not have more than two glasses and women no more than one glass a day).
We suggest you buy organic or all natural foods when possible to reduce
the intake if possible harmful growth hormones, preservatives, refined sugar,
additives, pesticides and other chemicals. It is also important to reduce
gluten and all MSG from your diet as well, since these products seem to cause
may health related problems today.
Note: Most of the ingredients mentioned above are often found in restaurants
meals. Cutting back on eating out is a good idea, if you have to dine out,
ask for a gluten free menu and/or food with no msg