Scientific Dietary Guidelines and Traditional Chinese Medicine Remedies for Hypertension Patients: From the Low-Salt, High-Potassium Principle to Sixteen Practical Examples of Antihypertensive Diets

I. Dietary Arrangements for Hypertensive Patients (1) Hypertensive patients need to eat in a timely and quantitative manner, neither too hungry nor too full, and avoid overeating. "Shou Shi Bao Yuan" says: "Excessive eating will cause accumulation, and excessive drinking will cause disease. Therefore, one should not drink excessively when thirsty, nor eat excessively when hungry, lest the qi and blood become abnormal and one suddenly cannot be saved." (2) Daily salt intake should be limited to less than 3 grams. When edema is obvious, salt intake should be strictly controlled. However, long-term low salt or salt deficiency can lead to loss of appetite, general weakness and other phenomena, so salt should not be eliminated. (3) Hypertensive patients should eat more potassium-rich foods, such as rapeseed, spinach, bok choy and tomatoes. Eating potassium-rich foods can not only protect myocardial cells, but also alleviate the adverse effects of eating too much sodium. However, when hypertension is complicated by renal insufficiency, it is not advisable to eat foods rich in potassium, otherwise, excessive potassium accumulation in the body will be caused by oliguria, leading to arrhythmia and even cardiac arrest. (4) Hypertensive patients should limit the intake of high-fat foods to prevent cholesterol from increasing. Because hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and atherosclerosis often cause and effect each other and occur in the same patient. (5) In order to maintain relatively stable blood pressure, hypertensive patients should try to avoid eating stimulating foods, such as spicy seasonings. Black tea contains a lot of caffeine, so hypertensive patients should try to avoid drinking black tea. Tannic acid in tea is very easy to combine with drugs and precipitate, so avoid swallowing drugs with tea to avoid affecting the antihypertensive effect.

II. Traditional Chinese Medicine Dietary Therapy for Hypertension Dietary therapy for hypertension is a traditional Chinese medicine treatment. Early-stage patients can choose dietary therapy in addition to a reasonable diet to balance Yin and Yang and harmonize Qi and blood. Dietary Therapy Recipes: (1) 500g celery decocted in water, add appropriate amount of white sugar and drink as tea; or 250g celery, 10 red dates decocted in water and drink as tea. (2) 30-40g hawthorn, 100g japonica rice, 10g sugar. First, decoct the hawthorn in a clay pot to obtain a concentrated juice, remove the residue, then add japonica rice and sugar to cook porridge. Take twice daily, as a mid-morning or afternoon snack, not on an empty stomach, 7-10 days as one course of treatment. (3) 10-15g peach kernels, 50-100g japonica rice. First, mash the peach kernels into a paste, add water to extract the juice and remove the residue, then cook with japonica rice into a thin porridge. Take once daily, 7-10 days as one course of treatment. (4) 15g lotus seeds, 30g glutinous rice, appropriate amount of brown sugar, put them in a clay pot with water, bring to a boil, then simmer until thick. Take on an empty stomach every morning and evening. (5) 1 fresh lotus leaf, 100g japonica rice, a little rock sugar. Wash the fresh lotus leaf and decoct it, then use the lotus leaf decoction to cook porridge with japonica rice and rock sugar. Eat warm for breakfast and dinner. (6) 100g each of mung beans and kelp, appropriate amount of rice. Chop the kelp and cook it with the other two ingredients into porridge. Can be eaten as dinner for a long time. (7) Soak raw peanuts in vinegar for 5 days and eat 10-15 peanuts every morning. It has the effects of lowering blood pressure, stopping bleeding and lowering cholesterol. (8) Several cloves of garlic soaked in sugar and vinegar for more than 1 month. Eat 6 cloves of garlic every day and drink 20ml of the sugar and vinegar juice. Take for 1 month. It is suitable for stubborn hypertension. (9) 50g of soaked sea cucumber, appropriate amount of rock sugar. After stewing the sea cucumber until tender, add rock sugar and stew for a while longer. Eat once on an empty stomach before breakfast. (10) 20 grams of kelp and 10 grams of cassia seed, add 2 bowls of water, decoct until 1 bowl remains, remove the dregs and drink the soup twice a day. (11) Soak cooked soybeans in vinegar for 2-3 days and then eat 10-15 beans each time, 3 times a day. Continue to take it to lower blood pressure. (12) Chop green radish and squeeze out the juice. Drink 30 ml each time, twice a day. Take it for 10 days as one course of treatment. (13) 6 grams of Apocynum venetum leaves, 15 grams of hawthorn, 5 grams of Schisandra chinensis, and appropriate amount of rock sugar. Steep in boiling water as a tea. Regularly drinking this tea can lower blood pressure, improve symptoms of hypertension, and prevent and treat coronary heart disease. (14) Take 60 grams of Polygonum multiflorum, decoct it in water to make a concentrated juice, remove the dregs, add 100 grams of japonica rice, 3-5 jujubes, and appropriate amount of rock sugar, and cook it into porridge. Eat it in the morning and evening. It has the effects of nourishing the liver and kidneys, replenishing essence and blood, blackening hair, and lowering blood pressure. (15) Take 10-30 grams each of mussels, shepherd's purse, or celery, boil them into a soup and drink it every day. A course of treatment is 15 days. It is effective in lowering blood pressure. (16) Carrot juice, about 1000 ml per day, should be drunk in several portions. Medical research has proven that drinking carrot juice has a significant blood pressure lowering effect for hypertensive patients.

III. Which vegetables are beneficial for lowering blood pressure in patients with hypertension? (1) Shepherd's purse: The young seedlings are harvested in early spring and eaten as a vegetable. They are fragrant and delicious. For patients with hypertension and fundus hemorrhage, use 15 grams of shepherd's purse flowers and 12 grams of lotus flowers, decoct them in water and take them 3 times a day for 15 days as one course of treatment. Ask the doctor to retest the blood pressure. If it does not drop, you can continue to take it for another course of treatment. If the blood pressure has dropped significantly, you can reduce the dosage as appropriate, take it twice a day, and reduce the amount each time. (2) Water shield: The best ones are produced in Taihu Lake in Jiangsu and West Lake in Hangzhou. In animal experiments, its mucilage has anti-cancer and blood pressure lowering effects. For patients with hypertension, take 50 grams of fresh water shield every day, add rock sugar and grains to stew and take it. 10 days is one course of treatment and it can be taken continuously. (3) Prickly ash: Also known as thistle or small thistle, it is found in various parts of my country and is a wild vegetable. For patients with hypertension, take 10 grams of thistle daily, decoct it in water and drink it as tea. One course of treatment is 10 days. It can be used continuously, but blood pressure needs to be rechecked in time to ensure safety. (4) Spinach: For patients with hypertension who have constipation, headache, dizziness and flushed face, fresh spinach can be blanched in boiling water for about 3 minutes, mixed with sesame oil and eaten twice a day, 250-300 grams per day, one course of treatment is 10 days. It can be eaten continuously. (5) Malan: It has the effects of cooling, clearing heat, stopping bleeding and reducing inflammation. For patients with hypertension, fundus hemorrhage and eye distension and pain, take 30 grams of Malan and 15 grams of Rehmannia glutinosa, decoct them in water and take them twice a day. One course of treatment is 10 days. If there are no adverse reactions, it can be taken for a period of time to observe the effect. In addition, there are also seaweed, wood ear fungus, mustard greens, kelp and other seaweed, which can be used when caring for patients with hypertension.