The General Diet For High Blood Pressure - Part 1 |
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For many years Nature Cure practitioners have taught the value of balanced dieting in the maintenance of good health. Lately some support in this endeavor has come from the medical profession, but much remains to be done; and because of the intense use of chemicals in the soil and in food we must exercise considerable care in the choice of food. Experience of many cases has proved conclusively that food has a very important part to play in the health state. Some people will point to the exceptions to this statement, but if investigation of any case is continued it will be found that the offspring of such a person are seldom healthy. Careful dieting, on the other hand, can result in an increase in health throughout the various generations of a family. We are not meant to live in ill-health, and if foods are well chosen the standard of health definitely rises. There are two main classifications of food for practical purposes. In the first large group come the proteins, starches and fats and these can be termed the building and energising foods. They are largely acid-forming, and are usually taken in too liberal quantities. The proteins are eggs, cheese, peas, beans, lentils, flesh foods, fish and milk. The starchy foods are all the grains, starchy vegetables such as potatoes, and fruit such as dates. The fatty foods are butter, margarine, nut oils and olive oil. The sub-divisions of this classification should be studied carefully, because their understanding makes arranging a suitable diet for high blood-pressure a simple business. Into the second large classification of food come the fruits and vegetables. Actually these have very little food value, but they are employed to supply the body with minerals salts, vitamins and also some roughage, all of which are essential to the real health state. Their presence allows the other digestive actions to take place normally. There are many practitioners of Nature Cure who believe that it is not possible to obtain healthy by dividing food into these two main classifications, and they think that only one-third of the diet should consist of proteins, starches and fats, the remainder being made up from vegetables and fruit. This may be perfectly correct in many cases, but the difficulty of administering this type of feeding makes it unhelpful to most of us. The most beneficial foods in all cases of high blood-pressure are vegetables, taken either raw or conservatively cooked, that is steamed or baked in such a way that the mineral slats and vitamins are preserved as much as possible. Fruit in every form is helpful in high blood-pressure, but if there is any accompanying acidic condition such as rheumatism, stomach acidity or the like, it is a wise plan to omit the very acid fruits such as lemons, grapefruit, sour oranges, rhubarb and plums, even if they are tinned. Vegetables and suitable fruits are safe foods in high blood-pressure, but a small proportion of protein is necessarily required for good health; this can usually be taken, without adverse effects, in the form of peas, beans, lentils and in small amounts of egg or cheese. The starchy foods are also essential but must be taken in small quantities. The best forms of starch are baked or steamed potatoes, wholewheat bread and the crispbreads such as Mavita, Primula or Ryvita. Sugars should be chosen from honey, Demerara sugar, treacle, and the sugar-starches such as raisins and dates. The danger foods in high blood-pressure are all white-flour products; that is, everything baked with white flour, including, of course, all patent flours and manufactured puddings. White sugar and all sweets made from manufactured sugar should also be avoided. Condiments and preserves, especially vinegar, excessive salt, all fried and all greasy foods and meat extracts should also be stopped. Meat of all kinds and fish are not advised in this treatment. |
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