Foods that lower blood pressure naturally

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a condition that signifies the amount of stress your heart is under as it beats. Each time your heart beats, it sends out blood to your arteries and then it takes blood and oxygen in. If you are overweight, have hardened arteries or clogged arteries, your heart may be under stress and you may have hypertension. There are many medications that you may be able to take in order to reduce your hypertension. If you would like to avoid medications and deal with your hypertension in a more natural way, there are many foods that lower blood pressure that you can eat in order to avoid the possibility of a lifetime of medication.

Foods to Eat
Spinach: Spinach has magnesium and potassium. These two ingredients have a natural method for reducing your blood pressure. They also assist your body in keeping your blood pressure in check, so make sure you continue eating spinach even after you lower your blood pressure. Other foods to find magnesium and potassium in are sunflower seeds (unsalted), navy beans, kidney beans, and lima beans.

Dark chocolate: Don’t try to act like you aren’t happy to see this on the list! A very small amount of dark chocolate has been shown to reduce high blood pressure. Now, when we say a very small amount, we really mean incremental. Your chocolate should be no more than a half and ounce. Remember, the point of eating the chocolate is to lower your blood pressure, not to enjoy it—although that is a fortunate side effect.

Skim Milk: Calcium and vitamin D work together to reduce your blood pressure. While these two nutrients can be found in many dairy products, if you eat the wrong dairy products you could be getting a lot of fat and cholesterol as well. By choosing skim milk you get the benefit of vitamin D and calcium without all the fat and calories of regular dairy products.

Oat bran: Fiber is very helpful in reducing your blood pressure. They do so by helping you lose weight and reducing your cholesterol. Other foods with fiber include fruits and vegetables like apples, spinach, cabbage and obeans as well as other whole grains.

Baked potatoes: White potatoes are chock full of potassium. Without enough potassium, you could be keeping enough sodium in your system to adversely affect your blood pressure. By eating foods rich in potassium rather than taking a potassium supplement, which could throw your body out of whack, you can reduce your sodium, lower your blood pressure and keep your body balanced. You can also eat soybeans and bananas to help your potassium levels.

Foods to Avoid
While those are the foods you should be eating, there are many foods you should be avoiding. By combining the methods of eating what you should, and avoiding what you shouldn’t eat you may be able to help yourself avoid medication.

Sugar: Sugar has been shown to increase your adrenalin, which can constrict your blood vessels. With smaller space to work with, your heart will be under a lot of pressure which will raise your blood pressure.

Salt: Salt makes you retain fluid which reduces your body’s ability to regulate your blood pressure, so avoid it.

Your primary care physician will let you know if he or she suspects that you have high blood pressure. At that point, you can discuss with him or her the various medications that are available to lower your blood pressure. In addition, you can find out if a diet rich in potassium, magnesium, vitamin D, calcium and fiber with lowered sugar and salt intake will be a suitable alternative to medication.

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Last updated on Oct 29th, 2009 and filed under Healthy Eating. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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