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The American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association (ASA) recently released an update to their guidelines to lower blood pressure.<\/p>\nThe American Heart Association (AHA) and American Stroke Association (ASA) recently released an update to their guidelines to lower blood pressure.<\/p>\n
For the first time, they recommended a diet other than their recent obsession, the DASH diet, for this purpose. And this diet is so delicious there shouldn\u2019t be any problem to stay on it.<\/p>\n
Yes, we\u2019ve been recommending the Mediterranean diet for years on Blue Heron Health News. Finally, official agencies are catching up.<\/p>\n
AHA and ASA aren\u2019t just recommending this diet out of thin air. Numerous studies have supported its effectiveness in improving cardiovascular health.<\/p>\n
In fact, the same day the recommendation was released, a new study was published in the American Journal of Hypertension<\/em>.<\/p>\n The researchers followed a group of people who already suffered coronary artery disease. Those who consumed a more Mediterranean style diet had fewer spikes in blood pressure and were less likely to suffer stroke and heart attack.<\/p>\n So, what are the key components of the Mediterranean diet?<\/strong><\/p>\n \u2013 80% of the diet is plant-based. That is, fresh fruits and vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains.<\/p>\n \u2013 Fresh fish is another key ingredient of this diet.<\/p>\n \u2013 Instead of butter, use extra virgin olive oil (except for high heat cooking)<\/p>\n \u2013 Replace salt with various tasty spices and herbs<\/p>\n \u2013 Almost no red meat<\/p>\n \u2013 Red and white wine in moderation for those who like it. Non-alcoholic wine and even grape juice are just as effective though.<\/p>\n As you can see, nobody has to suffer to lower their blood pressure using this diet. And it\u2019s easy to find lots of great recipes to make various Mediterranean dishes.<\/p>\n But why is this diet so effective?<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s because it lowers the overall stress on your body. Using fresh vegetables, olive oil and other healthy ingredients, your body can significantly lower inflammation throughout all the systems. And inflammation is the main physical stress factor that causes high blood pressure.<\/p>\n Some kind of stress is always the cause of high blood pressure. Usually, it\u2019s a combination of several types of stress. It can be mental stress (worrying about the world or money), emotional stress (loss of a loved one), sensory stress (traffic noise, TV), or physical stress (heavy exercises, inflammation).<\/p>\n By eating healthily, you lower the physical stress. This helps lower blood pressure. But to bring your blood pressure to a healthy level, you must lower the overall production of stress hormones in your body.<\/p>\n High blood pressure causes physical stress. Hence, once your blood pressure rises, the stress factors develop a life of their own and become chronic. One thing causes another, like a dog chasing his tail, and this cycle needs to be broken.<\/p>\n We accomplish this by giving your system something I call a \u201cFocused Break,\u201d using simple, easy blood pressure exercises that reboot your system to a good blood pressure level.<\/p>\n