Barbara Walch

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one out of three adults in the United States have high blood pressure (aka hypertension). And about 25 percent of American adults have prehypertension—blood pressure numbers that are higher than normal, but not yet in the high blood pressure range. Why is that a serious health concern? Because having high blood pressure puts a person at risk for heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and kidney disease.

When someone is diagnosed with hypertension, they are often prescribed medication but also advised to make certain lifestyle changes, like increasing their exercise regimen, managing stress, and following a low-sodium, low-fat diet. Oh, no—diet! There's that word that strikes fear in all our hearts because it immediately implies deprivation, restrictions, and boredom. But that's exactly what the authors of the Hypertension Cookbook for Dummies set out to dispel when they agreed to write the cookbook in the highly successful For Dummies series, published by John Wiley and Sons.

"Our book shows readers how to take charge of their blood pressure by making simple, delicious changes to their diets," co-author Cindy Kleckner says. "It features a lot of wonderful tips on how to lower sodium and prepare fresh food that tastes great. The goal is to avoid a lot of pre-packaged and processed foods, and instead use wonderful flavors from herbs, spices, flavored vinegars, aromatic vegetables, etc. to season and flavor your food."

One chapter in the book is devoted to learning how to navigate the grocery store so you choose processed food wisely and gravitate towards the healthier selections. Another advises how to think like a chef so you extract the most flavor from your food, and one on how to add it without adding salt and through various cooking methods. "The concept is called flavor-building," she says. "It involves using multiple, complementary flavors to create new ones in a dish, and make your food so tantalizing that you won't feel the need to add salt to make your food palatable. It just takes a bit of practice but is worth the learning curve."

The cookbook is written by Rosanne Rust, MS, RD, LDN, and Cindy Kleckner, RD, LD. Rosanne is a registered, licensed dietitian who resides in Meadville, Pennsylvania. As a nutrition consultant, she helps her clients develop solutions to poor eating habits and has an online weight-loss coaching service, reallivingnutrition.com. She is also a freelance writer, who has written three other books in the For Dummies educational and reference book series.

Registered, licensed dietitian Cindy Kleckner is a nutrition consultant working with several organizations—Cooper Fitness Center at Craig Ranch, The Cooper Clinic, Cooper Corporate Solutions, Mary Kay Corporation, and others. She also works individually with clients as a nutrition coach. At the Cooper Fitness Center, Cindy has a new Kitchen Boot Camp program, to help her clients have more success in menu planning and enjoy a hands-on cooking experience. She also teaches nutrition in the culinary arts program at Collin College.

Cindy says one of her biggest contributions to the cookbook was the recipe development, creating about 140 of the 150 recipes published. She says most of the recipes in the kid-friendly chapter are Rosanne's, who still has young children at home. But both of them set out to prove that healthy, good-for-you food doesn't have to be bland and uninteresting. "The food has to taste good, or you are not going to stick to any program," Cindy adds. "To be successful at improving your health through food, these changes need to become a part of your life all the time, not just some of the time."


There are recipes to cover every meal of the day, as well as breakfast on the go, smart snacks, and party foods. Honey and cinnamon spiked polenta topped with fresh berries or French Market Frittata with vegetables and herbs de Provence are breakfast dishes meant to get the day off to a delicious start. Velvety vegetable soup served with a dollop of tarragon cream or salmon burgers and oven baked fries make for a comforting lunch. And she hopes you'll be proud to serve even guests with company-worthy dishes like spiced chicken tagine or pasta tossed with shrimp, herbs, and a mélange of fresh vegetables.

And dessert wasn't overlooked. Cindy says her recipe for a simple but foolproof cinnamon apple cake will please the entire family. It's one she has been making for years for hers. But dessert doesn't have to be time consuming to be good. Something as elegant as roasted fruits drizzled with honey served with Greek yogurt and chopped walnuts are a snap to make.

But whether you have hypertension or not, making lifestyle changes like adding more exercise into your routine and eating healthier is always a good idea. Cindy adds, "We all need to get back in the kitchen at least most of the time to really improve our overall eating habits to prevent lifestyle diseases, not just hypertension. Good taste and healthy cooking can co-exist." And with February being American Heart Month, what better time is there to start?

Barbara Walch is Plano Profile's food editor, and is a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP).