Background: Hypertension is a disease with a high national prevalence which increases in sectors where there are indigenous populations. The complexity of the disease lies in the behavior that must be maintained to effectively adhere to medication and diet therapy. Objective: To understand the cultural factors that are associated with problems of adherence to diet therapy in hypertensive pehuenches. Methods: Qualitative study in hypertensive patients who do not adhere to diet therapy. We interviewed 42 individuals in the municipality of Alto Bio Bio for 6 months, analyzing them using semantic structural analysis completed with the saturation point of speech. Results: Discourse analysis showed the following results: a) ethnic foods have a symbolic value, b) ethnic foods are described as "natural" in opposition to any food that does not occur in their environment, although they are based in a high consumption of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, c) nonexistent biochemical properties ascribed to ethnic foods justify their use. Conclusion: there are cultural differences between the prescription of the nutritionist and the eating behavior of pehuenches, which affect non-compliance with diet and disease complications.