No High blood pressure is safe high blood pressure. Even if your blood pressure is only nominally above normal levels you are at an increased risk of stroke, organ damage and heart attack. The health risks only increases the longer your blood pressure stays high and the higher it gets.
The good news is that there are natural steps you can take to help reduce your blood pressure or prevent it from increasing to dangerous levels. Studies have been conducted that show a strong positive correlation between certain diet plans and a lowering of high blood pressure - so you can eat your way to normalised blood pressure with a diet for high blood pressure!
Scientists found that changing your diet so that it is low in saturated fats and cholesterol, has an added emphasis on fruits and vegetables and fat free and low fat dairy products and includes whole grains and less red meat will significantly lower blood pressure. 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. These two nutrients work together to reduce blood pressure and have been known to have about a 4% reduction rate - doesn’t sound like much but it can be the difference between life and death. For optimum absorption of vitamin D getting half an hour sun on 25% of your body is a must.
Spinach is not just for Popeye, but is another great food for lowering blood pressure. Beans and legumes as well as seeds and nuts (unsalted of course) are also essentials. All of the above are high in magnesium and potassium, key mineral for lowering blood pressure. 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.
Potatoes, Bananas and soybeans are another great trio full of blood pressure lowering potassium. Potassium is so important because of its relationship with salt. Potassium and salt are inextricably bound together, if one is high the other is low, so for the sake of your blood pressure you want potassium to be high! Potassium works especially on the kidneys so it is important for guarding against renal failure and kidney disease, both risks from high blood pressure.
And here comes the best news of all for people who like chocolate. Your favourite indulgence just became healthy. Cheers dark chocolate! Medical studies have shown that about 14 grams (30 calories) of dark chocolate helps high blood pressure without causing weight gain. It is also rich in antioxidants and iron among other minerals, so eat it with nuts or fruit to get the best out of it.
Its important to keep in mind that youdon’t have to eat tasteless and bland meals to benefit your blood pressure. 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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