No High blood pressure is safe high blood pressure. Your risk of heart attack, organ damage and stroke is increased even if your blood pressure stays a tiny bit above normal levels. The longer it stays high and the higher it gets, the greater the health risk.
Thankfully there are natural ways you can reduce your blood pressure and prevent it from getting beyond normal levels. A number of studies have found a correlation between certain diet plans and lowering hypertension so using a diet for high blood pressure means you can eat your way to being hypertension free!
Changing the diet to include more fruits, whole grains, vegetables and low fat dairy products and less red meat, cholesterol and saturated fat can be a great way of reducing hypertension the studies showed. They found that including organic poultry, fish and cutting out processed sugars also helped.
It is important to include foods that are rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium as these are the heroes of fighting high blood pressure. Of course any blood pressure diet is going to be low in salt, as salt and sodium are the big baddies when it comes to increasing high blood pressure and hardening of the arterial walls.
The foods that are great for lowering blood pressure do not need to be sought out at specialty health food stores, they are everyday foods available in any supermarket. Skim milk contains loads of calcium and vitamin D. Vitamin D and calcium work together in the body to ease hypertension and have been known to reduce it by a mean of 4% – not a large figure but in the world of hypertension the difference between living and dying. Getting about half an hour of sun on at least 25% of your body is also crucial for vitamin D absorption.
Eating spinach will also help to lower your blood pressure. Beans and legumes as well as seeds and nuts (unsalted of course) are also essentials. The aforementioned are all high in the key blood pressure minerals calcium, magnesium and potassium. Making sure you get potassium through foods is really important as taking supplements can upset the bodies balance of potassium so only take supplements with your doctor’s supervision.
Another trio of high blood pressure fighters is potatoes, soybeans and bananas. Salt and potassium share a close relationship in the body and that is why its so important. They are inextricably linked, one is high, the other is low – so for blood pressure you want it to be the potassium high sodium low equation, otherwise it spells danger! Potassium particularly helps in the kidneys, so it is essential for avoiding the high blood pressure associated risks of renal failure and kidney disease.
And here comes the best news of all for people who like chocolate. Your favourite indulgence just became healthy. Yay for dark chocolate! Medical studies have shown that about 14 grams (30 calories) of dark chocolate helps high blood pressure without causing weight gain. Dark chocolate is also full of antioxidants and minerals like iron – eat it with nuts or fruit to extract the fullest amount of ‘goodies’ from the chocolate.
It is important to remember that changing your diet for your high blood pressure doesn’t spell culinary doom and gloom. It really means that you will be living a more healthy active lifestyle, the benefits of which are innumerable – not the least being that you get control of your life back and no longer live in the shadow of high blood pressure, wondering when it will strike with deadly force.
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