Hmmmm....
This weekend I had three straight days of restaurant dinners. BP Monday night was 139/89 for multiple readings.
Then I got back in my routine, hitting 'it' hard. Tonight, BP is 109/71. The magic drug?
Cut out the sodium.
My high BP problem, like many folks, is sodium sensitive. You wouldn't believe how much sodium is packed into the food we are served, or buy off the shelf. Bread is the worst. Oh, cheeses can be bad, but bread is sneaky. 200 mg in a slice of plain old wheat bread. 500 in that tasty bagel. 1,200 in that scone.
So, my 'medicine' is tracking sodium in everything I eat. Weighing portions, reading the damn labels in the store (and at home!). I use tracking software on my iPad that I've entered all the label info into.
Yes, I tried the DASH diets. The amounts of sodium in foods, particularly anything prepared or processed, can vary wildly. Once I started tracking in detail I found the diets could be rendered useless by picking the wrong brand of some things. One specific brand of bread is 10 mg sodium per slice. Most others are 20 times higher. Gah!
After 751 mg of sodium intake yesterday, and 801 mg today, I've managed to get my BP down. Getting to that level is hard, though. I'll probably be at 1200 mg/day the rest of the week. By keeping the right foods around, I've been able to keep sodium intake below 1500 mg a day most days since last November, and my BP numbers definitely show it.
Just a thought.