Traditional Chinese Medicine Diet Therapy and Nutrition: Dietary Health Care Principles for Patients with Hypertension

**V. Dietary Care for Patients with Hypertension**

**1. How does Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) view dietary therapy for diseases? What are the principles of dietary therapy?**

Traditional Chinese medicine's dietary therapy has a long history, as the saying goes, "Food is the first necessity of the people."

Traditional Chinese medicine makes full use of this principle, advocating "if dietary therapy fails to cure the disease, then administer medicine" for many chronic diseases.

Traditional Chinese medicine believes that diet not only nourishes the body, making the body's qi and blood abundant enough to resist external pathogens, but also adjusts the body's yin and yang balance to prevent the occurrence of diseases.

At the same time, certain foods can also play a specific role in the prevention of some diseases.

In addition, traditional Chinese medicine also uses food directly to treat diseases, hence the saying "food therapy is worse than medicine therapy". In ancient times, doctors who were good at using diet to treat diseases were called "good doctors".

Therefore, traditional Chinese medicine's "dietary therapy" has been passed down for thousands of years as an independent clinical medical discipline.

**2. What are your thoughts on binge eating?**

Elderly patients with hypertension have poor liver detoxification ability, which can easily lead to cirrhosis, myocardial disease, and gastric mucosal atrophy. Excessive drinking can easily cause inflammation and bleeding, so avoid binge drinking. Overeating causes the diaphragm to shift upward, affecting the normal activity of the heart and lungs. Since food digestion requires a large amount of blood to be concentrated in the digestive tract, the blood supply to the heart and brain is relatively reduced, which can induce stroke. Therefore, avoid overeating.

**3. What is the relationship between salt and high blood pressure?**

Salt is closely related to blood pressure. Salt is essential for human life, but you can't eat too much of it, as excessive amounts can cause high blood pressure and a series of other problems.

Salt is mainly composed of sodium chloride. Sodium ions in sodium chloride have the function of absorbing water in the blood. Sodium ions absorb water from the body into the blood vessels, including water from the cells.

We feel thirsty when the water in our salivary glands is absorbed. So, eating too much salt can cause thirst and prevent urination. This increases the amount of water in the blood, which in turn increases blood volume. Increased blood volume leads to increased blood pressure. Therefore, salt primarily increases blood pressure by absorbing water and thus increasing blood volume.

4. Why should you avoid consuming high-fat, high-cholesterol foods for extended periods?

People with high blood pressure should avoid long-term consumption of large amounts of animal fats and other foods rich in cholesterol, such as egg yolks, animal organs, fish roe, shrimp, crab roe, and squid, mainly because:

(1) Surveys show that high cholesterol foods are related to the occurrence and development of arteriosclerosis.

(2) The amount of food consumed has a direct impact on the level of cholesterol in the blood.

When cholesterol levels in the blood rise, it can easily deposit on the walls of blood vessels, leading to arteriosclerosis.

**5. What is the relationship between trace elements and high blood pressure?**

**calcium**

Related reports indicate that the higher the calcium intake, the lower the incidence of pregnancy-induced hypertension.

In addition, calcium supplementation can reduce vascular sensitivity and inhibit the response of vascular smooth muscle to pressor substances in the body.

**Potassium**

A typical feature of hypertension is thickening of the arterial walls. However, when sufficient potassium is ingested, the arterial walls will no longer thicken. This is mainly because potassium has a protective effect on blood vessels, preventing mechanical damage to the arterial walls caused by blood pressure, thereby reducing the incidence of hypertension and stroke.

For people with high blood pressure, it is beneficial to increase their potassium intake appropriately.

One point to note is that some hypertensive patients may experience increased urination due to continuous use of diuretics or antihypertensive drugs, leading to potassium excretion and a higher likelihood of hypokalemia. Therefore, patients taking these medications should pay more attention to potassium supplementation.

**magnesium**

The magnesium content in the myocardial cells of patients who die suddenly from heart disease is lower than that of normal people.

If magnesium intake is too low, the muscle cells of the arterial wall will experience a large influx of calcium ions due to magnesium deficiency, which can lead to arterial spasms and increased blood pressure.

Coronary artery spasm is a major cause of myocardial damage and necrosis.