HYPERT ENSION

What is it? Why are we here?

Cassandra Dolan & Julianne M Barredo

Welcome!
Ice Breaker:
If you could only eat one thing for
the rest of your life, what would it
be and why?

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 What is Hypertension, anyway?
༝ Pressure of blood pumping throughout the
body above normal levels
༝ The heart is working “too hard”
༝ “Silent killer”: You may never feel it, however
it can cause damage to the heart and blood
vessels due to work overload
༝ Build-up of plaque in the blood vessels that
hardens artery walls: leads to restricted
space for blood to pump
༝ May lead to heart attack or stroke
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 What’s the cause?
༝ Genes: You may inherit predisposition to
Hypertension
༝ Poor Diet: Choices higher in sodium and
dietary fat may contribute to onset
༝ Lack of physical activity: those who are
inactive tend to have a higher heart rate
༝ Chronic Disease: Hypertension may come
secondary to any current medical conditions

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Spot The Difference!
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RDA FOR
HYPERT ENSION
1,500 Mg
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What would you choose?
 Putting into Practice
Behavioral Modifications
༝ Stimulus Control:
○ Adjusting your environment to help you!
○ Keep unwanted and unhealthful snacks
out of reach to help support your goals
○ Example: Keep whole foods in reach like
cucumbers, baby carrots, and berries to
snack on, and limit bagged and packaged
snacks in your home
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 Putting into Practice
Behavioral Modifications
༝ Cognitive restructuring:
○ Implement thoughts in your daily routine
to encourage follow-through.
○ Example: Think, “what food item would be
better for me?”, and “I will feel good if I
choose a lower-sodium option.”
○ If you have a slip-up, think “how can I better
prepare?” instead of “I failed.”
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Helpful Strategies
Think
“whole Pre-portion sodium
food for recipes and
first”! meal-prep at home,
and use your
knowledge of how to
read the sodium on a
Prepare nutrition label to your
advantage!
meals in
advance!
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Let’s review some concepts on
Hypertension!
What is it? The Cause? Remember
Blood pumping through Heredity, poor diet, lack Aim to consume 1500mg
the blood vessels at an of physical activity, and of sodium throughout the
elevated rate, causing other chronic medical day and work physical
damage to the heart and conditions. activity into your routine.
vessels.

What can I do? Keep it Simple Replace

Add more nutrient dense When cooking for Instead of reaching for
foods to the diet such as yourself or friends & “bagged & processed”
fresh fruits, vegetables, family, modify where snacks which usually
and lean protein. possible to achieve your have higher sodium
goals. content, prepare ahead!

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Recipe:
What you’ll need: Directions:

༝ 1 15.5 oz can chickpeas, drained ༝ Combine all ingredients in bowl

༝ 1 cucumber chopped ༝ Whisk dressing together
༝ 1 bell pepper chopped ༝ Pour dressing over salad
༝ ¼ red onion finely diced & keep up to 5 days
༝ ¼ cup chopped parsley or cilantro ༝ This recipe is great to add over
༝ Crumbled feta cheese brown rice, or pair with your
༝ Dressing: favorite protein source!
○ 1 lemon juiced
○ 1 tbsp dijon mustard
○ ¼ cup olive oil
○ 1 clove garlic
○ ¼ tsp black pepper
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Thank You!
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