Best Foods To Lower Blood Pressure
It has been found that blood pressure normally responds to what we eat. National Institute of Health (NIH) advocates publicly that the healthy eating habits play an important role to avert or lower high blood pressure and hypertension.
The two main risk factors for high blood pressure are weight and salt. The key is to regulate these two factors by including in your diet those foods that can reduce your weight and salt contents in your body, which will lead to lowering of your blood pressure naturally.
The DASH (“Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension”) centered around plant-based diet which especially include fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy. They are rich source of nutrients that promote overall health and lower high blood pressure as well.
The secret is to choose foods that are low in saturated fat, total fat, and cholesterol that will maintain your weight and which also will help to keep you within the daily advised allowance of not exceeding more than 2,400 milligrams of salt in your body.
Also go for foods that are high in potassium. If a body is deficient in potassium, it tends to retain extra sodium, which raises your blood pressure. On the contrary, when you consume a potassium rich diet, your body tends to get rid of extra sodium and reduction in your blood pressure.
What Foods Lower Blood Pressure
1. Celery: Celery, a vegetable, is a natural remedy for lowering high blood pressure. It contains phthalides which can relax the muscle tissues in the artery walls, helping increased blood flow resulting into lowering of your blood pressure. Doctors of Traditional Chinese Medicine have been recommending celery or celery roots to the High Blood patients for centuries.
2. Omega 3 Fatty Acids: Omega-3 fatty acids are natural blood thinner. They make your blood less viscous, resulting into easy blood flow inside your body. Thinner blood is also less likely to form clots in veins and arteries.
As the human body does not make omega-3 fatty acids, so the only way to get them is from the foods we eat. Cold-water fish are good source of anti-inflammatory omega-3 fats and are known for their cardiovascular benefits. Other good sources are wild- caught salmon, halibut, tuna, mackerel, snapper, cod, shrimp, sardines and herring. Ground flax seeds are plant-based source of omega-3 fats.
A bonus point you get from eating omega-3 fats is that they are known to lower cholesterol as well. Click here to read for foods that reduce cholesterol.
3. Broccoli: This vegetable is a rich source of fiber, potassium, calcium, magnesium, and vitamin C. These all essential nutrients help in lowering high blood pressure. Broccoli is also known for their potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.
4. Whole-grain Oats: This cereal is high in fiber and magnesium, both of which help to lower blood pressure. Oats also slow down atherosclerosis – the plaque build-up that takes place in your arteries.
5. Legumes and Beans: Legumes have a high fiber-to-protein ratio which is not found in any other type of food. Their combination acts effectively to manage blood sugar and reduce cholesterol levels, both of which are essential in regulating your blood pressure. Black legumes are also dense with magnesium and folate, besides fiber and protein. They all are effective remedy for lowering your blood pressure.
Beans are again packed with soluble fiber, potassium and magnesium, all key ingredients to reduce blood pressure and promote overall heart health. You can enjoy various varieties of beans, including kidney, black, white, navy, pinto and lima.
6. Foods high in potassium and low in sodium: A natural way to lower your blood pressure is to consume foods that are rich in potassium. Eat less of processed and canned foods, as they are high in sodium. Even better is to rinse the canned foods with water to reduce its sodium content.
Many studies have shown that low potassium levels in your body are linked to high blood pressure. It has also been found that the people who eat less than 2.4 grams of potassium a day carry 50% more risk of developing high blood pressure condition as compared to those who consume at least 3.6 grams of potassium a day.
Other potassium rich foods include soybeans, potatoes, dates and avocados.
7. Garlic: An Australian study has shown that garlic supplements lower blood pressure as much as the prescriptions of beta blockers. You can consume one clove of raw garlic a day in morning to reduce your blood pressure.
8. Low-Fat Dairy: Instead of high-fat dairy products, consume low-fat dairy products to reduce blood pressure. You can consume skim milk, low-fat yogurt or low-fat cheese to prevent hypertension. They contain blood pressure lowering essentials – magnesium and potassium. Moreover their low fat content enhances the bioavailability of calcium, enabling your body to absorb it easily.
9. Spinach – Food that lower blood pressure: This green leafy vegetable is packed with various compounds that reduce high blood pressure – potassium, magnesium, folate and nitrate. Potassium helps your body to get rid of excess sodium. You can also get nitrate from foods like beets, cabbage, broccoli and carrots.
Spinach is also high in fiber low in calories, again key essentials to control blood pressure.
10. Baked White Potatoes: They are good source of two key nutrients for your heart health, namely, potassium and magnesium. These two vital ingredients work to prevent and reduce high blood pressure.
11. Bananas: Banana is packed with potassium, so a natural way to reduce blood pressure. You can have this humble fruit in your breakfast or can keep it with you as on-the-go snack.
12. Apples, Onions and other foods having quercetin content: Quercetin has been found to be an effective natural ingredient in reducing high blood pressure levels. Other foods that are high in quercetin include red grapes, berries and broccoli.
13. Egg Whites: Start your day by eating egg whites in your breakfast. They are not only rich source of protein, but provide your body with a nutrient called peptide, which reduces blood pressure. Avoid eating egg yolk, if you are suffering from high blood pressure.
14. Unsalted Sunflower Seeds: They are packed with magnesium. Make it sure to eat the unsalted ones to reduce your blood pressure.
15. More foods that help in lowering your blood pressure: Include in your diet pomegranate juice, tomatoes, apples and raisins.
