Understanding Blood Pressure
Blood pressure
Every time your heart pumps, blood is pushed against your artery walls. The strength that this blood is pushed, is your blood pressure. A blood pressure reading has two numbers. The first number is the pressure when your heart beats (systolic pressure). The second number is when your heart relaxes (diastolic pressure).
High blood pressure
High blood pressure (also known also hypertension) is when the strength of the blood pushing against the artery walls is consistently higher than what’s recommended. If your blood pressure is high for an extended period, your arteries can become damaged and your risk of a heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, heart failure, dementia, eye damage and aneurysm all increase.
What's normal?
If you’ve been told you have high blood pressure, you’ll need to check in with your health professional on a regular basis to manage your condition. For most people an ideal blood pressure is 120/80. For people taking high blood pressure medication, the target blood pressure is 130/80 or below. Your target may be different and will be advised by your doctor, practice nurse or specialist.
Lowering Blood Pressure
1. Swap to lower salt foods
Salt (sodium) is found in most packaged and processed foods like crackers, chips, bread, breakfast cereals, sauces, condiments and savoury snacks. We also add salt to meals when cooking or at the table and can use less. The more whole foods we can add to our plate the better.
2. Eat more fruit and vegetables
Fruit and vegetables contain potassium, an essential mineral that your body needs for your nerves, muscles and heart work properly. Potassium also helps to lower your blood pressure which means eating fruit and vegetables directly counters the blood pressure raising effect of salt. Plus, vegetables are full of vitamins, minerals and fibre which keep your body healthy.
3. Make plants the main part of meals
Dietary patterns based around plant-based foods like vegetables, whole grains like brown rice, legumes like chickpeas, nuts and seeds have been consistently link to lowered blood pressure and better health. So don’t be shy of adding these foods to your plate and making them the star of meals.
4. Increase physical activity
Building in regular movement and exercise is a great way to reduce blood pressure – and makes you feel good too. At least 2.5 hours (150 minutes) of moderate-intensity physical activity is recommended each week.
5. Cut down or cut out alcohol
There’s now strong evidence to show us that drinking alcohol increases your risk of high blood pressure, which is a significant risk factor for heart disease. Setting a goal to drink less alcohol or to cut alcohol completely out will benefit your blood pressure and overall health.
6. Manage stress
Stress can raise your heart rate and your blood pressure in the short-term. We may cope with stress by skipping meals, eating more takeaways or drinking alcohol, which also impacts our blood pressure in the long-term. On stressful days, take time out by going for a walk, meditation or mindfulness.
The DASH Diet
The Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet was developed to treat and prevent high blood pressure and there is a good body of evidence on this approach.
A typical plate following the DASH diet contains vegetables, legumes, low-fat dairy products and moderate amounts of whole grains, fish, chicken and nuts.
This way of eating is consistent with the Ministry of Health’s Eating and Activity Guidelines and is an effective way to lose weight and improve health at the same time.
Studies have shown that the DASH diet lowers blood pressure, improves glycaemic (blood sugar) control and lowers the risk of heart disease and cancer.
How Fresh Start can help
Nutritional Info
We provide the sodium per serve so when selecting your meals for the week, you can choose options that are lower in sodium and fit with your health goals.
Nutritional Info
We provide the sodium per serve so when selecting your meals for the week, you can choose options that are lower in sodium and fit with your health goals.
Recipes to Support
Look out for our Mediterranean, Heart Healthy and Calorie Controlled (under 450 kcal) recipes.
Recipes to Support
Look out for our Mediterranean, Heart Healthy and Calorie Controlled (under 450 kcal) recipes.
Vegetarian Recipes
Consider choosing our vegetarian meals to increase the amount of plant foods in your diet as these meals contain lentils, chickpeas, edamame beans, nuts, seeds and tofu.
Vegetarian Recipes
Consider choosing our vegetarian meals to increase the amount of plant foods in your diet as these meals contain lentils, chickpeas, edamame beans, nuts, seeds and tofu.
Low Carb
Our low carb meals contain an extra serve of vegetables and can be another good way to increase your vegetable intake.
Low Carb
Our low carb meals contain an extra serve of vegetables and can be another good way to increase your vegetable intake.
Our favourite swaps
Here are a few of our favourite swaps to help you to reduce your salt intake:
- Choose reduced salt pantry staples when cooking Fresh Start meals. Reduced salt soy sauce and stock are great options instead of standard soy sauce and stock.
- Use fresh herbs, spices, chilli oil or chilli flakes instead of automatically grabbing the salt shaker!
- For products you eat often like bread and breakfast cereals, compare products and swap to a similar product that has lower level of sodium per 100g
- For snacks choose unsalted nuts instead of chips or crackers
- Purchase lean fresh meats instead of processed deli meats like ham and salami
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between “low salt” and “salt reduced” and “unsalted”?‘
Low salt’ means the product contains less than 120mg of sodium per 100g. ‘Reduced salt’ means that the product is at least 25% lower in salt than a comparative standard product. ‘Unsalted’ means no sodium has been added to the product, however the food may naturally have a small amount.
Can meals taste good without salt?
Culinary ingredients like herbs, spices, lemon juice, fresh garlic and onion, vinegar, sesame oil, chilli oil and olive oil all add plenty of flavour to your meals without salt. These ingredients feature regularly in Fresh Start meals.
How much salt is recommended?
The recommended amount of salt for adults is no more than 5g of salt per day (2,000mg of sodium). If you have high blood pressure or heart failure, your recommended amount may be less than this.
Do I need to add salt at the dinner table?
We always recommend trying your meal before adding salt out of habit. It can take 7-12 weeks for your taste buds to adjust to less salt!
What is the difference between different types of salt like sea salt, table salt and rock salt?
Rock salt, sea salt and table salt all contain the same amount of sodium. However, there is often no iodine in rock salt or sea salt. In NZ, our soils are low in iodine, so always choose an iodised table salt. Some salts state that they contain more minerals and trace elements compared to regular table salt but the quantities are too low to provide any real benefit to your health.
References