Over a million Americans developed high blood pressure overnight–and, no, it wasn’t the latest headlines.
The American Heart Association just lowered the bar on what is considered to a healthy blood pressure reading. Instead of anything under 140/90, you now need to shimmy under 130/80 to get the all clear. That means that a whole bunch of people who had normal blood pressure yesterday are hypertensive today.
Diet and lifestyle change is the standard prescription in this situation. The time-tested DASH diet, in particular, has a great track record for lowering blood pressure. But if the thought of giving up red meat and cheese leaves you feeling a bit bereft, I have good news.
Recent studies have found that modified versions of the DASH diet that include red meat and full-fat dairy products are just as effective as the more austere original. The details are outlined in this episode of the Nutrition Diva podcast: The DASH Diet Gets an Upgrade.