Over 50 million Americans have high blood pressure – a factor that significantly increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, the number one cause of death in the United States. But the good news is that your lifestyle and diet can help reduce high blood pressure and slash your risk for heart disease and stroke.
So how can your diet help to reduce blood pressure?
Reducing sodium and increasing potassium is the first thing you can do to keep your blood pressure under control. That’s because sodium and potassium counterbalance each other in the body.
A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine showed that a diet with 8.5 daily servings of fruits and vegetables (providing 4,100 mg of potassium) lowered blood pressure by 7.2/2.8 mmHg (systolic/diastolic) in people diagnosed with high blood pressure, compared to a diet providing only 3.5 servings of fruits & vegetables (providing 1,700 mg of potassium).
Unfortunately, our highly processed modern foods (most anything that comes in a box, bottle, can or bag) are extremely high in sodium and almost completely void of potassium. Choosing a diet comprised of whole foods, like the diet we recommend at Healing Gourmet, will naturally help to balance your sodium and potassium.
The next thing you can do to help bring your blood pressure down is take a good look at the amount of sugar in your diet. When you eat sugar, your insulin levels rise. This increases blood pressure by retaining sugar in the kidneys. And that’s why enjoying a low sugar, low glycemic diet can help to bring your blood pressure down.
Getting enough magnesium in your diet is also critical for blood pressure and a healthy heart. Magnesium helps relax the walls of the arteries and increases blood flow. Here are the specific criteria for “High Blood Pressure Diet Recipes” at Healing Gourmet:
- LOW IN SODIUM: Contains 140 mg or less per serving
- GOOD SOURCE OF POTASSIUM: Provides at least 10% of the daily value
- GOOD SOURCE OF MAGNESIUM: Provides at least 10% of the daily value
- LOW IN SUGAR: Contains less than 10 grams of sugar/serving
When you submit a recipe that meets these criteria, your creation will appear in High Blood Pressure Diet Recipes, helping others to enjoy delicious meals that benefit high blood pressure.
Along with enjoying a diet that’s balanced in sodium and potassium, low in sugar and rich in minerals, it’s also important to maintain a healthy weight and engage in regular physical activity. Optimizing your vitamin D levels (ideally obtained from sun exposure) is also very important as vitamin D stimulates the formation of a molecule called rennin, which helps blood vessels to relax and reduces blood pressure. And last but not least, make sure you enjoy restful sleep and engage in stress-reduction techniques, like walking and even quiet meditation.
To learn more about how you can reduce your blood pressure with a personalized heart healthy diet, go here.