Category: Food and Diet

Kitchenettes, Travel and High Blood Pressure

When traveling with high blood pressure, it can be challenging when it comes to lack of control over meals. If you’ve been following this blog, you know I am a big supporter of balance. Finding some kind of compromise is really the key; even during travel.

One way to gain some control and maintain a low salt diet when traveling is to choose hotels that have kitchenettes.

This way, if you indulge a little during lunchtime, you can grab a few simple ingredients to throw together a salad and enjoy with fresh fruit and nuts for dinner. This allows you to minimize the amount of salt and unhealthy fats for one of the meals.

It’s not the perfect solution, but I find perfection hard to keep up with. (I also have a post on tips for eating out, as that happens quite a bit during travels.)

I’m currently in Redmond, Washington and staying at the Hyatt House Redmond. It has a nice little kitchenette, living room, and bedroom. The rates are reasonable. The facilities aren’t fancy, but they meet my goals of space and control over what I eat. The staff is nice, and there are beautiful trails right outside the door. More on that later!

See below for a few photos. Have you ever made your own meals when traveling? If you have any easy go-to recipes to share, I would love to hear!

Hyatt House Redmond has kitchenettes, which helps with making low salt meals during travel.

Hazelnuts are Good for the Heart

What an exciting morning at the grocery store! YES! I am one of those people that actually enjoy grocery shopping. Okay, not all the time. Just when I get to go in the early morning before the crowds arrive.

Also, it’s exciting when I find products I haven’t tried before that might help lower blood pressure naturally, in addition to many other health benefits. To me, food really is a type of medicine. If you think about the fact that our body directly absorbs what we put in it, that’s some powerful stuff! Choose wisely!

I was walking along the dried fruit and nuts aisle at my favorite grocery store: Trader Joe’s. (By the way, if you’ve never been there, check out the store locator!) I grabbed my usual bag of dry roasted unsalted cashews, because as I’ve discussed here and here, cashews are super healthy and great for the heart. Suddenly, a bag of hazelnuts caught my eye. I’ve had hazelnut lattes, but this is my first time seeing hazelnuts sold dry roasted and unsalted in a store.

Like the big, blood pressure nerd that I am, I whipped out my phone and did a quick Google searches on the nutritional benefit of hazelnuts. Here’s what I found!

Nutritional Benefits of Hazelnuts

  • Good source of omega-3 fatty acids (those are good fats!). Omega-3s can help lower the risk of developing cardiovascular disease
  • Good source of antioxidants, which protect your body from oxidative stress (cell and tissue damage). This type of cell and tissue damage can affect your blood pressure.
  • Good source of phenolic compounds, which help your heart by reducing cholesterol and inflammation
  • Good source of magnesium and potassium, which can help lower blood pressure naturally

Have you tried hazelnuts before? How do you prefer to eat them? Any good recipes to share? Hope you’re having a fantastic day!

  • Hazelnuts are heart healthy nuts; give them a try sometime!
  • hazelnut heart health
    Oregon Hazelnuts that I found at Trader Joe’s today! Be sure to choose dry roasted and unsalted.

References

Personal Blood Pressure Update

I was pretty emotional yesterday, because I’ve been working hard for so long to lower my blood pressure naturally, and I’m finally starting to see some good numbers.

If you’re on the high blood pressure journey as well, know that lifestyle changes can be a very powerful thing. I’ve said this before, but I’m not against taking medications for hypertension. I just happen to be in a place where the cardiologist recommended that I try lifestyle changes to attempt lowering it naturally. I thought it would be interesting to share what I’ve learned and am still learning; in hopes that it will benefit you too!

Here’s my blood pressure reading from yesterday (the lowest it’s been in years). 113/76!!! HOORAY! My high blood pressure has always been incredibly resistant, and I’ve tried so many different lifestyle changes, but I’m deeply grateful that all the efforts I’ve made are starting to pay off.

Blood pressure monitor

I know everyone’s health situation is very different. I’m just grateful to have a space here to be able to share what I do on a daily basis to keep my blood pressure overall in a healthier range. Today, I’ll share a typical day for me in terms of both activities and meals! You’ll see links in the schedule for posts where I’ve discussed a related topic before.

My Schedule Today Including Activities and Meals!

  • Breakfast: Steel cut oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins, one cup decaf coffee
  • Break Mid Morning: Take the stairs up and down 5 times
  • Lunch: Sandwich with wheat bread (Ezekiel no salt bread), tuna fish seasoned with black pepper, light mayo and mustard, chopped celery, carrot sticks on the side, strawberries
  • Afternoon snack: 4 Medjool dates, a handful of dry roasted unsalted cashews, a cup of cold barley tea
  • Break Mid Afternoon: Quick 10 minute walk around the apartment complex
  • Dinner: Fish oven baked with light teriyaki sauce, white rice, steamed zucchini and swiss chard.
  • Post dinner snack: Small bowl of cantaloupe
  • Post dinner tea: Hot ginger tea
  • Post Dinner Walk: 30 minute uninterrupted brisk walk around the neighborhood
  • Pre Bedtime: 10 minutes of meditation
  • Note: Drank several glasses of water throughout the day.

Often times, I find it helpful to get a peak into what someone’s day looks like to get a more complete sense of how the different lifestyle changes fit in the big picture. This blog has a wide variety of tips, and it was interesting to put many of them together. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments! I hope you are doing well on your heart healthy journey.

Watermelon, a Heart Healthy Summer Treat!

HEY GUESS WHAT! Summer is here, it’s super hot, and IT’S WATERMELON SEASON!!!! Haha okay I will now stop shouting at you in all caps. Seriously though. Are there any other watermelon fans out there?!

I get really excited about watermelons, because I genuinely think they taste refreshing, sweet, and delicious. When my sweet tooth starts calling my name, enjoying a crispy cold bowl of watermelon does the trick!

Okay, let’s get to the point. If you’re wondering, which fruit is best for high blood pressure? Is watermelon healthy if I have high blood pressure? Wonder no further! Let’s discuss the heart healthy benefits of watermelon!

Heart Healthy Benefits of Watermelon

  • Watermelons have high levels of lycopene (the natural compound that gives watermelon the red color). Lycopene can help to prevent cell damage, lower cholesterol and decrease arterial plaque. Both cholesterol and arterial plaque can weaken your blood vessels in the long run, so lycopene is a helpful friend.
  • Watermelon is a good source of potassium, which can play a role in lowering your blood pressure. As I’ve mentioned before, be mindful if you have potassium restrictions in your diet. Please check with your doctor.
  • Watermelon is an incredible source of hydration. It is 92% water! When your body’s cells are lacking water, the blood vessels get more narrow which can raise your blood pressure. So, you do want to stay well hydrated, especially in the hot summer months!

There are many other health benefits of eating watermelon, but I’ll stop here for today, so your eyes don’t get tired from reading!

Now while I get back to my yummy bowl of watermelon, please tell me your watermelon stories! Any special memories associated with them? Do you just eat them as chunks like me or do you have a beloved recipe? Yes it’s true. I like talking about watermelons. Haha! Have a great and heart healthy day!

References

Dining at a Friend’s House when You Have High Blood Pressure

Today, I wanted to talk about how challenging it can be to participate in social activities when you have dietary restrictions. How do I eat low sodium at my friend’s house?? Humans are social creatures. We have get-togethers for almost everything. Birthdays, graduations, job promotions, you name it! It’s so much easier to control what you’re eating when at home, but if you’re going over to a friend’s house, there’s the complication of unexpected food AND the social pressures of eating whatever everyone else is eating.

If you’re dining out with your friend, check out my post with some helpful tips.

Now if your friend is hosting the dinner party in their home, there are some different considerations. Read on for a few simple tips to prioritize keeping your blood pressure low naturally and also being mindful of your friend!

3 Tips for Dining at a Friend’s House When You Have High Blood Pressure

  • Communication: If you know this friend well and feel comfortable doing so, communicate with your friend about your dietary restrictions. It can helpful to explain that you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure and are trying to eat a low sodium diet. It can be challenging to accommodate low sodium diets, so please give them adequate notice.
  • Bring a Dish: Offer to bring an entree that works for your restrictions. This is one of my favorite tips. I always feel hesitant to ask someone to cook or order a dish just for me. That can be time consuming and expensive. It works out well to tell your friend you have high blood pressure, and that you’re more than happy to bring a low sodium entrée to share. It might also be helpful to ask if your friend is planning on having a fancy, planned out dinner party, so there isn’t the awkward dance at the door about where to put your Hello Kitty dish ware. Haha 😀
  • Eat Less Sodium for the Other Meals That Day: If you don’t feel comfortable letting your host know or bringing your own food, consider adjusting what you eat the rest of the day to accommodate for the extra sodium and/or heart unhealthy fats you might be eating at the party. For example; if you’re going to a dinner party and know you may end up eating some saltier foods, choose something low salt for breakfast and lunch! It’s all about balance, not achieving perfection!

Do you have dietary restrictions, and how do you deal with that when you go over to your friend’s house for a meal?

Photo by Nicole Michalou from Pexels