Foods and diets that will help to lower blood pressure
You might have heard that changing the way you eat can impact your health. But what about your heart specifically?
Poor diet is one of the leading risk factors for heart disease globally as well as in America. What we eat and drink can severely increase our risk for higher blood pressure which therefore increases the risk of heart disease and other ailments including:
- High Cholesterol as a related symptom of high blood pressure
- Obesity caused by an accumulation of fat
- Diabetes caused by an unhealthy diet
So, what does a healthy blood pressure eating pattern look like?
- Enjoying a variety of natural and unprocessed whole foods focused on fresh and organic can be extremely good for your blood pressure.
- A diet that is naturally low in satured unhealthy fats, salt and refined sugar can improve high blood pressure and lead to better healthier outcomes.
- Try to create a diet focused on wholegrains, high fibre vegetables, increased intake of vitamins and other healthy minerals.
- For a balanced diet of fat we recommend the unsaturated fats such as Avocados, nuts and other natural unprocessed whole foods to complement this healthy diet.
What specific foods and fruits can help lower blood pressure?
There are some varieties of specific food groups that you might want to include into your healthy blood pressure lowering diet. We have made a list of some of our favourites below.
Please consult your doctor before planning a healthy meal plan with this diet to make full use of the recommendations. It is important to have balance in a diet and too much of any one food no matter how healthy can be detrimental to the health of your body and your goal of lowering blood pressure.
Lemons
Lemons are a natural fruit that have had healthy outcomes for high blood pressure in studies by scientists
The studies suggest that an intake of lemons daily alongside exercise like walking can have a positive effect on high blood pressure as there is a significant negative correlation to systolic blood pressure.
The humble lemon, a representative citrus fruit, contains several bioactive components such as citric acid and other healthy minerals containing various health benefits [4].
A daily consumption of lemon keeps blood arteries flexible and soft allowing some relief for those suffering from hypertension.
To consume lemons daily, it is definitely possible to just dilute the lemon into a delicious lemonade (without adding sugar!). Drinking it in this form is best, but remember to dilute it with water or your mouth might pucker up!
Garlic
Garlic home treatment and consumption have been studied extensively by academia as shown here
The research suggests that garlic supplements and garlic itself have shown effectiveness in reducing blood pressure in patients suffering from hypertension, similarly to standard anti-hypertension medicine.
Kyolic garlic in particular shows properties of improving heart health by reducing stiffness in the arteries and making blood more fluid to be passed through your artieries therefore preventing blood clots building up.
The home remedy for garlic for lowering blood pressure is to either take a supplement from a well known brand recommended by your doctor or to add in some garlic to your diet.
This can be quite easy as garlic is a well-used food in many cuisines. Asian food in particular has a heavy use of garlic and we recommned trying some out to improve your high blood pressure. Be wary of salt in your cuisine however as this can have a negative impact on your efforts.