Foods that Lower Blood Pressure

Foods that lower blood pressure are out in the market and would be both helpful and beneficial to you. However, there are also other foods that could affect your blood pressure, some would be stimulants that could be found in tea and coffee for a period of time while consuming salt over a period of time. Knowing what kinds of food would affect you would seriously create a difference in your heart health.

Salt

An uncommon food that lower blood pressure is the salt. Some might have a disagreement over the role of the salt in the high blood pressure. However, there is no question about the connectivity of blood pressure and salt intake. There are strong pieces of evidence that would prove that are sensitive to salt and consuming salt might give them a big risk of having heart disease. The details for this correlation is not really proven, however, you need to be vigilant about eating salts to lower the high blood pressure.

Caffeine

Another food that lower blood pressure is caffeine. This is a stimulant that can be found in cocoa, tea, and some sodas. This would excite your central nervous system that would increase your metabolic rate, heart rate, and even your blood pressure. It has temporary effects but the long term effects of caffeine consumption are very scary. Most studies show that habitual coffee drinkers do not have hypertension, however, this is a portion of good food that might help you lower your blood pressure.

Alcohol

Intake of moderate amounts of alcohol will protect you against heart attack, blood pressure, and even other cardiovascular diseases. In theory, the alcohol would affect the walls of your blood vessel, it would alter their elasticity as well as change the response mechanism of stress messages that are carried by our hormones. The combination of these two things would greatly affect the lowering of your blood pressure and would mean less work for your heart. With excess amounts, the alcohol would have adverse effects, it would increase your blood vessel stiffness as well as raise all the levels of metabolic stress and higher demands for your heart.

Folic Acid

Folate is a B vitamin that could be found in citrus fruit, vegetables, and beans. The folic acid could be generally found in most bread and cereals. In the US, it would help in lowering blood pressure and would help prevent the onset of your high blood pressure in doses of around 800 micrograms per day, twice of the recommended daily allowance. However, the positive effects of this folic acid could only be found in women.

Potassium

Another food that lower blood pressure is potassium. This important electrolyte could also be found in yogurt, potatoes, avocados, fish, and winter squash. Most Americans do not get the necessary amount of potassium in their diets. If you do not consume enough potassium, it would lead to an increased level of blood pressure as well as an increased risk for stroke. The electrolyte would change the response mechanism of your blood vessel to certain chemical messages in your body. It would keep them relaxed and supped. Eating a lot of good foods, such as vegetable, dairy products, fish, and vegetable would be important to managing as well as preventing your high blood pressure.

Magnesium

Whole grains, green leafy vegetable, yogurt, and as well as those found in supplements are some foods that lower blood pressure. This is because magnesium is an essential nutrient of these foods. There is only a small effect on blood pressure for magnesium supplements but magnesium-filled diet would greatly help in lowering the blood pressure. It would also give other blood pressure lowering nutrients such as calcium and potassium.

Vitamin D

Another important nutrient that you need to consume is Vitamin D. It regulates a lot of metabolic functions in our body. We typically stock a lot of Vitamin D supply through sunlight, however, it could also be found in some foods such as milk and fatty fish.

Controlling the level of calcium in your blood would greatly contribute to the regulation of blood pressure. There is evidence showing that if you have a vitamin D deficiency, it would lead to high blood pressure as well as other cardiovascular problems.

Simple Steps to a Lower Blood Pressure

Here are some steps you need to take in order to intake foods that lower blood pressure. Make sure to read them thoroughly.

Eat Less Salt

There is 40% sodium in salt. The former is a mineral that is important to have a normal function of the body. But, if you eat it in excess it could raise the blood pressure especially for those people who are sodium-sensitive. There are scientific studies that show lowering sodium would be beneficial in lowering your blood pressure.

Here are some places you can get sodium:

• what is found naturally in food
• what is added during the processing of food
• what we add when cooking
• what we add at the table

Sauces and various salt are added in food preparation and table eating could contribute greatly to consuming sodium daily. Processed and canned foods would have a bigger content of sodium.

Here are some known ways to reduce your sodium intake:

Eating at Home

• Cooking with less sauce, salts, seasoning powder, and stock cubes or any other flavorings that contain a lot of sodium.
• Enhancing food taste though natural spices and herbs such as ginger, onion, chili, garlic, parsley, cinnamon, spring onion, and cloves.
• Do not use preserved and salted food such as salted eggs, salted fish, sausages, luncheon meat, and ham.

Eating Out

• If possible you need to ask for your food to be prepared with fewer sauces and salt.
• You need to taste the food first do not add salt or sauces to food especially if your food is already palatable. If you still want sauce, ask for it on the side.
• Do not drink sauces and soup stocks. These contain a lot of sodium.

Another great way to fight against blood pressure is through weight loss, especially if you are overweight. You need to have a diet that is low in calories and also engage in regular exercise for you to have a healthier weight.

The above-mentioned things are the foods that lower blood pressure. You can also buy fresh food when you are shopping. Do this as often as possible. We hope that you have gathered enough insight from this article.