Recommended Diet to Lower High Blood Pressure

If you have high blood pressure, your diet should contain (1):

• Less than 1.5 g of salt (NaCl) and sodium (Na) per day
• About 4.7 g of potassium (K) per day
• Low amount of cholesterol and saturated fats (your doctor should tell exact amount)
• No more than 2 drinks of alcohol per day (your doctor should tell)

Foods to AVOID in High Blood Pressure

1. Salt and Sodium

Reducing sodium (Na) and salt (sodium chloride, NaCl) in your diet can lower blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure, aim to limit salt intake to 1.5 g/day. You can achieve this by avoiding salty foods, especially commercial (packaged, tinned) foods, not adding salt during cooking and at the table.

continue reading Foods That Cause and Foods That Lower High Blood Pressure

Optimal Cholesterol Levels

Optimal amounts of cholesterol (in one dL of the blood) are:

• Total cholesterol: less than 200 mg
• LDL cholesterol: less than 100 mg
• HDL cholesterol: more than 60 mg 

Foods to Avoid or Limit to Lower Cholesterol

continue reading Diet to Lower Cholesterol in Vegetarians

How May Foods Help in Constipation and When?

You may get rid of constipation by adding more dietary fiber and water into your diet. Dietary fiber makes your stool bulky, thus stimulating the bowel, and soft, and therefore easy to expel. This may work, when the main cause of constipation is a low-fiber diet, but might not be enough in severe constipation caused by a disease or medications.

Foods That Relieve Constipation

1. Foods Rich in SOLUBLE Fiber

• Oatmeal or oat bran
• Brown rice
• Orange, grapefruit
• Green plantain

Soluble fiber can absorb a lot of water and therefore help in both mild constipation and mild diarrhea, especially in constipation-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-C), and alternate IBS (IBS-A). NOTE: soluble fiber may produce a lot of gas.

continue reading Constipation Diet – Foods That Relieve Constipation

Foods That Cause Constipation

The following foods tend to cause constipation:

• Dry foods, like crackers and morning cereals, if eaten with insufficient fluid
• Low-fiber foods, like cheese, meat, eggs, chocolate, cakes, ice cream and other sweets, white bread or pasta, white rice, mashed and fried potatoes, chips, fast food, pre-prepared (instant) foods, fast foods in general
• Alcohol (except red wine), low-fiber drinks with glucose (soda, fruit juice), energy drinks containing caffeine or taurine
• Citrus fruits with lot of connective tissue, like oranges or grapefruit, if eaten in excess
• Nuts, like peanuts, and seeds

continue reading Foods That Cause Constipation and Effects of Calcium

Types of Constipation

1. Atonic Constipation

Atonic (Gk. atonos = unaccented, without tension) constipation results from reduced muscle tone (tension) of the colon, abdominal wall or pelvic floor. Causes include:

• Habits, like sedentary life style, irregular meals, low-fiber diet, postponing bowel movement, overuse of laxatives resulting in a lazy colon that does not react to stimuli, like eating and presence of the stool in the rectum. Affected person simply does not feel the urge to defecate even when his colon is full of stool.
• Loose rectal muscles, mainly in old people
• Weak pelvic floor muscles, often in women after giving birth
• Damage of the intestinal nerves in long-term, poorly controlled diabetes or congenital disorders, like Hirschsprung’s disease.

Change of life habits, or surgery (in Hirschsprung’s disease) can help.

continue reading Causes of Different Types of Constipation