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(Hypertension. 2006;47:135.)
© 2006 American Heart Association, Inc.

Editorial Commentaries

New Guidelines on Diet and Blood Pressure

Thomas G. Pickering

From the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, New York, NY.

Correspondence to Thomas G Pickering MD, D Phil, Behavioral Cardiovascular Health and Hypertension Program, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, PH 9-946, 622 West 168th St, New York, NY 10032. E-mail tp2114@columbia.edu

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

The publication of a new American Heart Association (AHA) scientific statement on dietary influences on blood pressure is very timely.¹ "You are what you eat" may be a cliché, but the importance of diet in our lives cannot be underestimated, and hardly a week goes by without some new fad diet appearing on the scene. There is agreement that of all the modifiable environmental factors that influence blood pressure, diet is the most important. But one of the ongoing debates is the extent to which hypertension should be treated by lifestyle changes or by drugs. Although these are not necessarily mutually exclusive, the issue is relevant because physicians’ time and resources are limited. According to the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7) classification,² more than half of American adults are either hypertensive or prehypertensive, and most of the latter are destined to become hypertensive if they live long enough. The AHA statement lists 4 specific dietary components as having very strong scientific support for their effects on blood pressure: 2 (salt and alcohol intake) raise the pressure, whereas 2 others (potassium and omega-3 fatty acids) lower it. In addition, body weight is strongly related to blood pressure, and 2 composite diets—Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) and a vegetarian diet—are considered to lower the pressure.

Although all hypertensive patients should be counseled about the influence of diet on blood pressure, we should remember that people can only . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Hypertension 2006 47: 296-308. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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