Hypertension 1996 : One Medicine, Two Cultures

Diet in hypertension

Prof. Alberto Fidanza
Chairman of the Istituto di Fisiologia Generale of the University “La Sapienza” of Rome

I retain that the diet to recommend to the hypertensive subjects, could certainly be “LA MIA DIETA", that is connected to the traditional way of eating by Mediterranean people. It is a healthy and balanced diet. It has been elaborated counting in the most recent scientific studies, in diets.
Naturally this diet, absolutely excludes the addition of salt in food, and it is also expected to exclude all those aliments that contain sodium chloride, which is used to preserve some kind of foods as cured pork meats, salted fish, salted cheese, all those tinned products, and the broth cubes whose composition is for 50% of their weight, made of salt.
In the Institute that I manage, I have been doing fundamental researches into vitaminology, into lipometabolism and mainly into cholesterol metabolism, into the nutrition status and into Italian's alimentation.
From those studies, it emerges that Italians don't eat correctly. They eat in an unbalanced way, for the excessive consumption of animal fats, the excessive use of salt (20-30 gr. instead of 2-3 gr., which full fill the daily needs), and the quantity of food that is superior of 25% than the real daily needs.

The “DIET” I suggest is based on only one course to eat it during both lunch and dinner time, following the next outline:

2000 kcal diet

Breakfast

Lunch

1 first course chosen among my 33 recipes

Dinner

1 second course chosen among my 33 recipes

1 vegetable chosen among my 34 recipes

If we consider a 1000 Kcal diet that leads to a reduction of the corporal weight it is necessary to reduce the quantities of food, of the outline, of about 50%. On take contrary if we want a diet of 1500 Kcal it is necessary to reduce the quantities only of the 25%.
The aliments that characterise “LA MIA DIETA MEDITERRANEA”, are tread and pasta for take remarkable quantity of starch, they assure a contribution of hydrate of carbon gradually digestible and of slow absorption. Fish, that assures take intake of well digestible proteins that have a high biological value. The add fats polynsatured of the omega three series and of some vitamins as the A, the D and thee Nicotinamide. Fruit and vegetables, largely used, allow to introduce mineral salts and all take vitamins that have a very important protective role on take cardiovascular apparatus.
The antioxidant vitamins, as vitamin C, vitamin K, and Beta-carotene, that are largely present in citrus fruits, vegetables, and that must always be eaten fresh, moreover protect from the free radical's damages, that are considered responsible of cellular structures'deterioration. Concerning to take lipid part olive oil is take best even better if it is extra-virgin, possibly to use it raw, to avoid that the important biological components, which are present in what cannot be saponified.
Olive oil, as demonstrated by my studies on its metabolism, is fat that doesn't get stored in our organism, but it is all quickly converted in water and carbon dioxide, furthermore it reduces cholesterol efficiently. Suggesting flow to use “LA MIA DIETA MEDITERRANEA”, some very important practical advises are given, also for the grilled, that destroys take nutritional value of aliments and it enriches them of cancerogenic substances.
All the fried foods and take overcooked food and with very high temperatures, are unadvised. In my book “LA MIA DIETA MEDITERRANEA”, publisher: INDUSTRIA TIPOGRAFICA LAZIALE-PALESTRINA (ROMA), all the concepts, here significantly illustrated, are widely explained.

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Edited by Aldo Campana,