By Tapiwa Lewis
Are you aware that weight loss can help to lower your risk of developing high blood pressure ? Losing even 5kg’s can lower your blood pressure. More importantly losing weight has the biggest effect on those who are overweight and already have hypertension. Another unknown fact is that consuming foods rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium may also help prevent or normalize high blood pressure.
While there is no single food that can lower your blood pressure on it’s own, consuming a more balanced diet that contains fruits like watermelon, cucumber, whole grains, leafy greens, banana’s, red beets and apricots can help to lower your blood pressure. Vegetables such as potatoes and sweet potatoes along with consuming different types of proteins like tuna, salmon, beans, nuts and seeds. Will also go a long way in lowering your BP.
Following the DASH diet can go a long way in lowering your high blood pressure. DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The DASH diet is a healthy-eating plan designed to help treat or prevent high blood pressure (hypertension). Maintaining a DASH diet for two weeks can lower your systolic blood pressure (the top number of a blood pressure reading) by 8-14 points.
As important as it is to focus on consuming a more balanced diet, it is also important to cut down or eliminate certain foods from your diet that could be increasing your blood pressure. Eating lots of salt makes your body store a lot of water which in turn increases blood pressure. The recommendation is about 2300 mg of sodium per day, which means try to consume as little salt as possible. Other foods to avoid include coffee or drinks high in caffeine (which can temporarily cause a sharp increase in your blood pressure), avoid refined sugar, fatty foods, smoking and alcohol.
In general, you should eat more low-fat protein sources, whole grains, plenty of fruits and vegetables as well as exercising at least 30 mins a day. The DASH guidelines also suggest eating more foods rich in potassium, calcium, and magnesium. Check out the links below to learn more about the DASH diet.
Learn More at:
https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/…/public/heart/dash_brief.pdf