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Uncle Wang, a 63-year-old retired teacher, has always had high blood pressure, but he is resistant to taking medicine, and always feels that long-term medication will have a negative impact on his body, so he decided to try to control his blood pressure by changing his eating habits.
Half a year ago, Uncle Wang began to be a vegetarian, at first he was not used to the days without meat, often felt no appetite, physical exhaustion, but as time went by, he gradually adapted to the vegetarian life, Uncle Wang consumed a lot of vegetables, soy products, grains and other plant foods every day, but also paid attention to controlling the intake of sodium salt, what he didn't expect was that in just half a year, the body has undergone significant changes.
First of all, Uncle Wang's weight has dropped significantly, in the past, because of improper diet and lack of exercise, he once gained weight, and his weight reached a maximum of 85 kilograms, and now his weight has dropped to 75 kilograms, and the whole person looks energetic.
Secondly, Uncle Wang's blood pressure level tends to be stable, his systolic blood pressure often exceeded 160mmHg in the past, but now the blood pressure index has been kept within the normal range.
After the results of the examination came out, the attending doctor Dr. Zhao smiled and said to him: "Mr. Wang, your changes in the past six months are really amazing, not only your blood pressure has been well controlled, but also blood lipids, blood sugar and other indicators have also improved significantly, and the overall physical fitness has improved a lot." "
Uncle Wang asked curiously: "Is my change mainly because I insist on being a vegetarian?" Dr. Zhao nodded, explaining: "A vegetarian diet does help lower blood pressure, and many studies have shown that a plant-based diet, especially foods rich in potassium, magnesium, and fiber, can play a role in lowering blood pressure, but controlling blood pressure also requires attention to other factors, such as reducing stress, exercising moderately, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol, etc. "
Uncle Wang said thoughtfully: "It seems that my persistence in the past six months has not been in vain, but I am also worried that long-term vegetarianism will lead to malnutrition?" Dr. Zhao smiled and said, "Your concerns are normal, and it is true that if a simple vegetarian diet is not properly matched, it may cause deficiencies in nutrients such as protein, iron, calcium, and vitamin B12.
However, your usual diet is relatively comprehensive, you eat a lot of soy products, nuts, and vegetables, and there should be no major problems with the intake of key nutrients, and appropriate supplementation of some nutritionally fortified foods, such as soy milk rich in calcium, iron and zinc, can also prevent nutritional deficiencies. "
Uncle Wang listened to the doctor's words, the stone in his heart finally fell to the ground, he secretly determined, to adhere to the vegetarian life, for their own health more efforts, after leaving the hospital, Uncle Wang began to pay more attention to the scientific collocation of diet, he learned to use tofu, dried tofu instead of meat, with nuts, sesame to supplement high-quality fat, with fresh vegetables and fruits to provide rich vitamins and minerals, at the same time he also developed a good habit of walking every day, Tai Chi, with exercise to strengthen the body.
Gradually, Uncle Wang found that the vegetarian diet brought him not only physical improvement, but also mental improvement, and he felt that he had become more peaceful and tolerant, and he had more enthusiasm and gratitude for life.
He often shares his experience with his wife and children, encouraging them to try a healthy lifestyle, Uncle Wang's changes have also infected many friends around him, seeing his transformation, many people began to reflect on their eating habits, and some even joined the ranks of vegetarians.
Many chronic diseases, such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, are closely related to poor lifestyles, and changing the diet structure, eating more natural ingredients such as vegetables and fruits, whole grains, soy products, and eating less processed foods with high salt, oil and sugar is one of the key measures to prevent and control chronic diseases.
A large prospective cohort study in the United States found that long-term vegetarians had about a 25% lower risk of hypertension compared with those who ate a lot of meat, and similarly, a meta-analysis in the United Kingdom also pointed out that a vegetarian diet can significantly reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and the effect is better than that of a regular low-fat diet, these results support the positive effect of vegetarianism in controlling blood pressure.
Of course, we also need to recognize that a vegetarian diet alone cannot solve all health problems, and that balanced nutrition, moderate exercise, a good attitude, and necessary medication are all indispensable parts of health management.
Everyone's physical condition is different, and the diet plan also needs to be different from person to person, such as some elderly people, children, pregnant women and patients with special diseases, may need more high-quality protein and certain micronutrients, when making a diet plan, it is necessary to fully consider the physiological needs and physical conditions of the individual.
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