October 6, 2006
What is the Best Food for High Blood (Hypertension) Pressure?
Eating healthy is one of the best ways to treat high blood pressure. Blood pressure is the leading cause or heart disease, and can be measured up in the discussion of one thing: the systolic pressure over the diastolic pressure. Elevated blood pressure is defined as pressure that is 140/90 or higher.
This puts major strain on the heart, as it has to beat much harder to get the blood through the constricted vessels. Often eating certain food for high blood pressure can help the problem.
Avoid Salt
One type of food for high blood pressure sufferers to decrease in their diet is salt, as diets that are high in sodium often lead to high blood pressure; if you need to reduce your blood pressure, then you need foods that are low in salt. You can season your foods with herbs rather than salt and this can help your blood pressure problems.
Sodium from salt causes the blood vessels to constrict, which increases blood pressure. Food for high blood pressure that you would thus want to remove from your diet would include such things as processed meats, cheese, canned foods, and salty snacks.
Increase Your Potassium
Some of the best food for high blood pressure would include that of foods that are high in potassium, such as bananas, avocados, tomato and grapefruit juices, potatoes, and squash, for instance. Blood pressure keeps water from flowing across the membranes of the blood vessels. Water retention increases blood pressure. Therefore, food for high blood pressure should be high in potassium.
Increase Calcium and Magnesium Intake
Food for high blood pressure should also include foods that are high in calcium and magnesium, such as low-fat milk, sardines, spinach, tofu, and green beans, which are all high in calcium. To increase your magnesium you should include legumes in your diet, such as beans, and seeds also help to increase magnesium. A good idea is to keep a package of sunflower seeds handy for a quick snack.
Avoid Saturated Fat
If you need to control your blood pressure, then avoid foods high in saturated fat. Saturated fat is one of the worse types of food for high blood pressure, as LDL cholesterol is increased by saturated fats, and these cholesterols stick to the arteries, increasing pressure on the arteries as the arteries become hardened.
Increase Fruit and Vegetable Intake
Studies have shown that fruits and vegetables are some of the best foods for people who have high blood pressure, as they help to increase the levels of potassium and magnesium in the diet. A diet completely out of fruit and vegetables has been shown to decrease systolic blood pressure by 2.8 mm of mercury and diastolic blood pressure by 1.1 mm of mercury.
Also, increase low fat dairy products to help decrease blood pressure by increasing calcium. Watching your diet carefully is one of the best ways to reduce blood pressure, and often leads to no longer needing medication.
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Filed under High Blood Pressure by health-guide
