Dietary Interventions in the Prevention and Management of High Blood Pressure
Introduction/Background
High blood pressure (hypertension) is a condition caused by the high force of blood against the walls of the artery resulting in heart disease. In extreme conditions, high blood pressure could result in stroke and even death. High blood pressure is the leading risk factor for heart diseases. Despite these facts, controlling high blood pressure has always been a national challenge in Australia. Statistics indicate that close to six million adults in Australia have hypertension (33.7% of adults) The prevalence of high blood pressure is higher in males than females, with adults in the rural region having a 27% higher rate of the condition than those in urban areas (Australian Bureau of Statistics). The risk of developing high blood pressure also develops with age. High blood pressure is not caused by only one factor but rather a combination of many different factors. Obesity, lack of exercise, excessive smoking, and alcohol, as well as dietary issues, are some of the factors that contribute to high blood pressure.
High blood pressure creates a big burden on the economy. It increases the risk of premature death leading to reduced work productivity. Studies show that the loss of productivity caused high blood pressure to equate to $137.2 billion every year (Hird 2019). It has also led to a significant increase in the cost of health in Australia (Harrap, 2019). New hypertension guidelines have been provided to help healthcare professionals deal with high blood pressure. Some of the issues identified in the guidelines are following a healthy lifestyle and following good nutritious diets. Don't use plagiarised sources.Get your custom essay just from $11/page
High blood pressure the major risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD), a major cause of death globally. Research shows that increasing sodium intake and reducing potassium intake can reduce the risk of hypertension (blood pressure) (Gradual 2017). However, as people usually eat whole meals with a combination of many nutrients rather than one nutrient in isolation, it is essential that research is conducted on the effects of whole diets on blood pressure. Information on whole meals and how they relate to blood pressure will be more useful to the population as they take their foods in whole diets. An example of a diet combination that has proven to reduce blood pressure risk is one rich in fruits and vegetables and low in fat. Other diets with positive effects on blood pressure include Mediterranean type diets, vegetable dietary patterns in Japanese women, fruit, and milk diets in Chinese men. However, very little research has been conducted on the best diet to be used in preventing blood pressure among adults in Australia. This is required as dietary requirements do vary in different countries.
Search Strategy
This study involved the analysis of the best diet combination that could be used to prevent cases of development of blood pressure among adults in Australia. The goal is to identify the dietary interventions that could help prevent blood pressure at the individual level as well as the population level. In order to gather enough supportive evidence for my research, a systematic review of the current available research and practices was conducted used a systematic review approach as its approach for research is objective and transparent and eliminates the issues of bias (Gough 2018). Using a systematic review enabled me to provide a comprehensive summary of the current articles relevant to the issue I was researching. After creating my search question, I performed a search of the relevant literature concerning the topic that I choose. The information I used was searched for different databases and websites, such as the AIHW resources. The key terms used in searching articles for my research were diet, blood pressure, and Australia.
Discussion and Analysis of Literature
Individual Level Prevention and Management
The first article states that elevated blood pressure often results in interactions between genetic factors and environmental factors. Of the environmental factors that affect blood pressure, dietary factors are the most prominent causes of blood pressure (Appel 2006). The article also relied primarily on systematic reviews. Hence its information was accurate and reliable. The dietary factors that lower blood pressure, as identified in the article, include increased potassium intake, reduced salt, and alcohol intake. DASH-type diets are also identified in the article as causing low blood pressure (Juraschek 2017). This involves consuming diets rich in vegetables and low in fats, saturated fats, and cholesterol.
Another article used to gather evidence for this research is the article “Association between dietary patterns and blood pressure in a sample of Australian adults.” This article was written after the authors conducted a study to investigate how whole diets affect blood pressure in order to help contribute to recommendations for health on the reduction of blood pressure. The research was done on Australian adults only. Results from this investigation are very relevant as it is a very recent study, conducted in 2020. The authors investigated how three different dietary patterns affected the blood pressure of the participants (Margerison et al., 2020) Diet one included high consumption of soft drinks, fried potatoes, processed meat, alcoholic beverages, poultry and eggs, salads sauces, fats, oils, and cheese. The diet also included a low consumption of fish, tea, coffee, and breakfast cereals.
To enhance the prevention of blood pressure at the individual level, individuals should consider switching their diets to the Mediterranean diet. Mediterranean diet has been highly associated with the prevention of cardiovascular disease. Mediterranean diet consists of oatmeal and walnuts for breakfast, with fruits and nuts for snacks. Lunch meal consists of cucumbers, green salad with olives, and chickpeas. Dinner consists of cod with vegetables and couscous. Research has been done on the effects of adhering to this diet on blood pressure in older healthy Australians. Results from numerous studies show positive effects. A study on the effects of the Mediterranean diet with HabDiet showed lower systolic blood pressure on participants who used the Mediterranean diet. Australian adults should, therefore, be encouraged to consume Meddiets as they help lower systolic blood pressure and improve endothelial function.
The second diet consisted of high consumption of mixed cereals, low-fiber bread, dishes containing meat, pasta and rice, dishes containing poultry and egg, seeds and salted nuts, and vegetable dishes and low consumption of vegetables and vegetable juices, high-fiber bread, meat, fried potatoes, low-fat milk, and yogurt (Margerison et al., 2020). The third diet contained high-fat milk and yogurt, takeaway, pasta and rice dishes, vegemite, vegetable dishes, and low-fiber bread. Results from the study concluded that the second dietary pattern was associated with higher blood pressure and hence posed greater heart disease risk (Margerison et al. 2020). These results show that diets that are high in sodium and low in potassium form dairy and vegetables are more likely to cause blood pressure. This information is essential for individuals to use in their daily diets hence help manage blood pressure at an individual level.
The article “Dietary sources and meal distribution of sodium and potassium in a sample of Australian adults” was also used in the systematic review. The authors wrote the article after conducting a study to establish the main sources of potassium and sodium in foods. It is recommended that people reduce sodium in their diet and increase potassium; hence the study helped determine which food sources should be increased and which should be reduced (Margerison 2013). The article concluded that salt content in processed foods should be reduced in order to reduce people’s intake of sodium. The reduction in salt content should also be accompanied by educating the people on choosing low sodium meals, especially during lunch meals. People should include more fruits and vegetables in their diets to prevent the risk of blood pressure.
Population-Level Management
I also reviewed an article by Kacie M. Dickinson that examined the dietary sodium and potassium intake at eating occasions among adults in Australia. The aim of the study was to identify how major food sources contributed to sodium and potassium at different eating occasions. The research found out that dinner was the greatest contributor to the total daily intake of sodium (33%) and potassium (35%) (Dickinson 2018). However, Na density was found to be highest at lunch while K density was highest at eating occasions between meals. Food sources that were high in sodium were unprocessed meat dishes and potatoes. Food sources high in potassium were bread and processed foods (Dickinson 2018). The interventions here should be done at a public level through public health messages that awareness on diet patterns that should be followed so as to reduce the risk of hypertension.
For interventions that should be done at the population level, the government should introduce policies that regulate the salt content in processed foods (Magnusson 2014). The community should also organize programs to create awareness and educate people on how to control their sodium intake by using different dietary patterns in order to reduce the risk of developing blood pressure (Hill 2017). Volunteer peer health educators can be recruited from the community and trained to educate people on the importance of following particular sets of diets to avoid developing blood pressure. These programs should collaborate with all the health professionals in the community in order to ensure the effectiveness of the awareness and education programs (Kaldor 2015). These programs will provide people with the knowledge of the particular foods that they should reduce and the ones they should increase so as to effectively manage the risks of developing blood pressure.
Conclusions
High blood pressure prevalence on Australian adults is very high. This has led to a high risk of cardiovascular diseases among the people, especially the elderly. High cases of blood pressure among the adults have resulted in reduced productivity hence causing an economic burden. Although high blood pressure is caused by a combination of many factors, dietary patterns contribute to a very great extent to the development of blood pressure. It is, therefore, crucial for intervention measures to be taken at both the individual level and the population level to ensure that correct dietary patterns. Individuals should ensure that they seek the proposed diet in their daily meal intake. The government should also regulate the food processing industry to ensure proper dietary procedures are followed. The public health sector also has a big role to play in educating the people on the proper dietary plans to help prevent blood pressure risks.
References
Appel, L. J., Brands, M. W., Daniels, S. R., Karanja, N., Elmer, P. J., & Sacks, F. M. (2006). Dietary approaches to prevent and treat hypertension: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. Hypertension, 47(2), 296-308.
Australian Bureau of Statistics, National Health Survey 2014/15, get facts on hypertension. Retrieved 16 March 2020, from https://www.heartfoundation.org.au/images/uploads/main/HeartWeek_fact_sheet_for_professionals.pdf
Davis, C. R., Hodgson, J. M., Woodman, R., Bryan, J., Wilson, C., & Murphy, K. J. (2017). A Mediterranean diet lowers blood pressure and improves endothelial function: results from the MedLey randomized intervention trial. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 105(6), 1305-1313.
Dickinson, K. M., Chan, L., Moores, C. J., Miller, J., Thomas, J., Yaxley, A., … & Miller, M. (2018). Eating occasions and the contribution of foods to sodium and potassium intakes in adults. Public health nutrition, 21(2), 317-324.
Gough, D., & Richardson, M. (2018). Systematic reviews. In Advanced Research Methods for Applied Psychology (pp. 75-87). Routledge.
Gradual, N. A., Hubeck‐Graudal, T., & Jurgens, G. (2017). Effects of low sodium diet versus high sodium diet on blood pressure, renin, aldosterone, catecholamines, cholesterol, and triglyceride. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, (4).
Harrap, S. B., Lung, T., & Chalmers, J. (2019). New blood pressure guidelines pose difficult choices for Australian physicians. Circulation Research, 124(7), 975-977.
Hill, J., Peer, N., Oldenburg, B., & Kengne, A. P. (2017). Roles, responsibilities, and characteristics of lay community health workers involved in diabetes prevention programs: a systematic review. PloS one, 12(12).
Hird, T. R., Zomer, E., Owen, A. J., Magliano, D. J., Liew, D., & Ademi, Z. (2019). Productivity Burden of Hypertension in Australia: A Life Table Modeling Study. Hypertension, 73(4), 777-784.
Juraschek, S. P., Woodward, M., Sacks, F. M., Carey, V. J., Miller III, E. R., & Appel, L. J. (2017). Time course of change in blood pressure from sodium reduction and the DASH diet. Hypertension, 70(5), 923-929.
Kaldor, J., Magnusson, R., & Colagiuri, S. (2015). Government action on diabetes prevention: time to try something new. Medical Journal of Australia, 202(1), 578-581.
Magnusson, R., & Reeve, B. (2014). Steering Private Regulation-A New Strategy for Reducing Population Salt Intake in Australia. Sydney L. Rev., 36, 255.
Margerison, C., Riddell, L. J., McNaughton, S. A., & Nowson, C. A. (2020). Associations between dietary patterns and blood pressure in a sample of Australian adults. Nutrition Journal, 19(1), 5.
Margerison, C., Riddell, L. J., Wattanapenpaiboon, N., & Nowson, C. A. (2013). Dietary sources and meal distribution of sodium and potassium in a sample of Australian adults. Nutrition & Dietetics, 70(4), 294-299.