Best foods for hypertension. Hypertension is a stern health condition that can contribute to heart attacks, strokes, aneurysms, kidney disease, and other problems. Hypertension (or hypertension) is a common medical problem, especially among diabetics.
While there are many ways to keep high blood pressure in check, one of the simplest and best methods is to follow a good diet.
Is there a diet for high blood pressure that can reduce hypertension beyond weight?
We know that overweight and obesity are among the primary causes of essential hypertension. Weight gain and fat accumulation, especially in the abdominal area, have persistent effects on blood pressure.
Losing weight can therefore help make blood pressure more regular, as long as you follow a balanced and weighted diet for high blood pressure, maintaining the right amount of all nutrients. Here are some foods particularly effective in lowering blood pressure.
High blood pressure: what to eat?
When a doctor advises the hypertensive person to lose a few pounds to improve hypertension, they almost always start independently from the total elimination of bread and pasta, minimizing carbohydrates.
In addition to being totally useless for long-term weight loss, this total carbohydrate renunciation is also very dangerous. The carbohydrates are, in fact, the “engine” of our energy. Metabolism transforms sugars into energy available for each type of action we perform.
In addition, a hyper protein diet may cause minor problems, such as fatigue and an Annex for kidneys, which in the long term are not sustainable.
No drastic decisions or total eliminations in the diet are necessary for high blood pressure. You can lose weight by eating everything in a balanced way.
What is the best diet for high blood pressure?
The way we eat, the foods we eat every day, and our daily routine continually affect our health and, consequently, also our blood pressure.
A not-so-secret, which we learn from an early age in the kitchens of our childhood homes.
The Mediterranean diet is an approach to food that contains all the elements to eat well and promote our health with a diet for high blood pressure.
At the bed of the Mediterranean diet are seasonal fruit and vegetables: vegetable products, those that nature auspiciously offers, are rich in vitamins and mineral salts that are hardly found in other foods, especially in prepackaged foods.
Remember that an electrolyte imbalance can also cause hypertension by an unbalanced relationship between sodium and potassium. Surplus sodium leads to less potassium and magnesium, which can be counterweighed by eating plenty of fruits and vegetables.
At the bottommost of the food pyramid of the Mediterranean diet, we also find cereals. One must consume bread, pasta, couscous, and other cereals to guarantee the body the energy it needs to perform its functions.
However, make sure to consume them in the correct amounts for each one’s own energy outflow. In other words: it is accurate that too much pasta or bread makes you fat, but only if you consume them in excessive quantities.
Hypertension diet: Is diet enough for those with high blood pressure?
While it is true that losing weight, especially for overweight or obese, is an excellent starting point for controlling blood pressure, hypertensive people must still adapt their lifestyle by adopting other behaviors that are part of prevention.
Furthermore, sticking to a specific anti-hypertension diet, let’s not forget the benefits of good hydration and physical activity.
Drinking plenty of water a day surges the sense of satiety and appeases hunger, often the cause of errors and disruptions during the weight loss diet.
Furthermore, constant sporting activity must be added to weight loss, starting with a brisk walk of 15-30 minutes a day, as a minimum enough to start moving again.
Best foods for high blood pressure.
1. Honey and beekeeping products.
Bee honey is a unique biologically active product that contains many substances that have a beneficial effect on the human body. Honey has a comforting effect on the nervous system, reduces vascular sclerotization, reduces blood viscosity, and helps normal kidney function.
Other beekeeping products have properties like propolis, bee bread, and royal jelly. Interestingly, honey not only has a hypotensive effect but also optimizes blood pressure. That is, it reduces it when it rises and increases it when it falls.
Therefore, it is useful to make preparations with honey in cases where the pressure jumps. In order to combat hypertension, you can consume honey in a mixture with bee bread or with berries that have a pronounced diuretic effect (for example, with lingonberries or cranberries).
2. Beet juice.
The antihypertensive effect of red beets has been known for a long time. The unique combination of vitamins, trace elements, amino acids, and mineral salts in the root crop lowers blood pressure.
In addition, beets have a moderate diuretic effect, and the fiber included in its composition prevents cholesterol absorption by the intestines, preventing vascular sclerotization.
As a remedy for hypertension, you can mix raw beet juice with honey, carrot, and horseradish juices or water in a 1:1 ratio. Beets are also great because they are very easy to use.
Simply put, it is enough to eat regularly to treat hypertension. People who eat boiled red beet salad every morning have been shown to maintain their blood pressure at an optimal level throughout the day.
Beet kvass is no less useful – a pleasant refreshing drink that can also bring relief from hypertension.
The use of beets for therapeutic purposes has contraindications. Preparations and dishes from this root vegetable are not allowed for people suffering from gout, diabetes mellitus, urolithiasis, and some gastrointestinal pathologies.
3. Red bell pepper.
It contains an increased amount of vitamin C, which is necessary for all those familiar with the phenomenon of hypertension firsthand. The recommended norm is two peppers a day. You can consume it both in pure form and in vegetable salads.
4. Onion juice.
Onions have outstanding properties for arterial health, which helps improve blood circulation and fight high blood pressure and cholesterol. To make the best of its benefits, one can drink half raw onion juice with honey daily.
5. Watermelon seeds.
Most people throw watermelon seeds, not knowing they have extraordinary health properties, especially for cardiovascular health. These seeds contain magnesium, which can dilate the blood vessels, helping to improve kidney functions.
Moreover, watermelon seeds help fight hypertension and alleviate the maddening pains of arthritis. To consume them, you have to gently mash the seeds first and boil them. Let it sit for nearly an hour, and then you can drink 3 to 4 tablespoons of this drink various times a day.
6. Fish. Namely salmon.
Salmon is lush in Omega-3 and fatty acids. Among other benefits, eating salmon regularly can help you reduce high blood pressure and prevent the risks of developing hypertension. Try steaming salmon with your favorite vegetables. Lick your fingers!
7. Celery.
Celery is a purifying and diuretic food that assists in eliminating toxic elements from the body. This potent food is rich in 3-n-butyl-phthalate, a phytochemical type that helps regulate blood pressure. Preferably one must consume celery in raw form, whether in juices or salads.
8. Lemon.
Regular consumption of lemon, either raw or in juice, greatly helps in reducing high blood pressure levels. Lemon helps in dilating the blood vessels and makes them more flexible. It is a significant characteristic of regulating high blood pressure. You can drink a glass of lukewarm water with lemon juice on an empty stomach daily with no sweeteners to get the most of its beneficial properties.
9. Blueberry, raspberry, and strawberry.
Berries, especially blueberries, are great foods for hypertension, as they are rich in compounds called flavonoids. Research has shown that ingesting such a substance prevents hypertension and can help reduce hypertension.
10. Spinach.
This dusky, leafy green is great for your overall health and will specifically help blood pressure due to the potassium, magnesium, and folic acid found in the vegetable. Like potassium, folate and magnesium are valuable for keeping blood pressure low.
11. Bananas.
Banana has a high level of potassium that helps lower blood pressure. Excessive salt intake is a major factor in hypertension, and potassium helps to naturally regulate salt levels in the body. Plus, bananas are an easy-to-eat natural snack.
12. Garlic.
Garlic is another food par brilliance that can help in the regulation of high blood pressure and maintain good health. This food specifically helps reduce cholesterol, improve circulation, and lower blood pressure.
If you want to take full benefit from all its properties, you can eat it raw. However, you can also drink 5 to 8 drops of garlic juice extract diluted in water once or twice a day.
13. Coconut water.
People suffering from hypertension must keep themselves hydrated, drinking at least 8 to 12 glasses of water daily. Coconut water is a splendid alternative for hydration. You can include it in your daily fluid intake and benefit from its nutritious properties that considerably improves high blood pressure problem.
14. Oatmeal.
A high-fiber diet protects against hypertension, making oatmeal a good choice. Because the fiber takes time to digest properly, keeping blood sugar levels in check, in turn, lowers blood pressure. Additionally, oatmeal is very low in fat and sodium.
15. Chocolate.
You wouldn’t think food as tasty as chocolate could have any health benefits, but chocolate lowers blood pressure. Research has found that cocoa in chocolate contains compounds that limit blood pressure levels by dilating blood vessels. Choose dark chocolate, which contains more than 70% of cocoa.
High blood pressure: Natural remedies to lower it immediately.
Hypertension (insistent increase in blood pressure) affects around 20% of the world’s population. This disease adversely affects the standard of living, reduces the ability to work, and in the absence of systematic treatment, it threatens complications such as myocardial infarction, stroke, and other serious ailments that can lead to disability or sudden death.
Most patients take prescriptions given by doctors to maintain blood pressure at a more or less acceptable level. However, you can also fight hypertension with folk remedies.
1. Pharmacy Phyto preparations.
Of the medicinal plants sold in the pharmacy network, the following are used to combat hypertension:
- Hawthorn fruits
- Knotweed grass
- Sowing lettuce leaves
- The roots of Scutellarin Baikal
- Viburnum berries and bark
- Calendula flowers
- Shepherd’s purse grass
- Honeysuckle
- Black currant
- Chokeberry
- Walnuts
- Onions
- Garlic
These are excellent for lowering blood pressure. When treating hypertension with folk remedies, remember that completely eliminating the disease will not be possible. You can only maintain the pressure at the optimal level, but this requires the long-term continuous intake of the selected drugs. It is very crucial to refer to your doctor before starting such therapy.
2. Plantain leaves.
This unassuming plant is widely known as a wound healing and antiulcer agent. An alcoholic infusion of plantain leaves, when taken for a long time, lowers blood cholesterol and blood pressure, improves blood vessels’ condition, and optimizes the heart’s work. Four tablespoons of leaves are poured with 250 ml of vodka and insisted in a dark place for two weeks to prepare the drug. You can take 30 drops of the infusion three times a day.
3. Sunflower seeds.
Everyone knows that sunflower seeds and their oil are used for food. But seeds also provide invaluable help for hypertensive patients since they contain a large amount of niacin, which dilates blood vessels and optimizes blood flow.
You can prepare the medicinal broth as follows: two glasses of raw unpeeled seeds are poured into 2 liters of cold water and boiled over low heat for two hours.
Drink this filtered broth drunk during the day, dividing it into 100 ml portions. Regular intake of this remedy ensures the normalization of blood pressure and has practically no side effects.
Tips for reducing blood pressure.
Let’s quickly find out all the behavioral and dietary strategies to lower blood pressure. If you want to decrease the pressure, you must make changes to your lifestyle and diet.
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Reduce the salt.
Consume a maximum of 1500 mg of sodium per day and do not exceed more than 2300 mg (about a teaspoon). Try to limit your consumption of packaged and processed foods and salt bombs, such as pizza, kebabs, fast food, and canned foods.
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Eat foods rich in potassium.
Taking 2,000 to 4,000 mg of potassium can help lower blood pressure. Potassium is a mineral that promotes sodium excretion through urination. Rich sources of potassium are bananas, beans, nuts, and avocados.
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Follow the DASH diet.
Hypertensive people should follow the DASH (dietary approaches to stop hypertension) diet. It is one of the healthiest eating plans ever and was developed specifically to lower blood pressure without the use of drugs.
The basis of the diet is on consuming vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy products, limiting daily sodium intake to 2,300 mg, with an ideal limit of 1,500 mg. Research shows that the DASH diet can reduce blood pressure in just four weeks and even aid in weight loss.
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Maintain healthy body weight.
Maintaining a healthy body weight is the most important factor in high blood pressure regulation. Bodyweight increases the work of two folds of the heart leading to an upsurge in blood pressure.
A complex system of environmental, biological, and psychological factors significantly regulates our body weight.
These dynamics vary from person to person; consequently, it may be more problematic for some people to lose or sustain a healthy weight than others. To achieve weight loss, we need to burn more calories than we consume. However, there is no one-size-fits-all tactic for weight loss, and the “best” method is the one that can be followed and carried out in the long run.
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Be physically active.
Over and over again, physical activity is beneficial for both the body and the mind. It includes positive effects on blood pressure.
Regular physical activity can strengthen our heart, thus reducing its effort to pump blood around the body. It also decreases the force exerted on our arteries, reducing blood pressure.
The World Health Organization endorses doing a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate physical activity (e.g., brisk walking) or 75 minutes of strong activity (e.g., running) each week. This associates with 30 minutes of enough movement for five days a week. Going beyond these recommended thresholds would bring further benefits.
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Limit your alcohol intake.
High alcohol intake can have numerous destructive health effects. One of these is the bigger risk of hypertension. A non-risky alcohol intake level is estimated to be around 100 g of alcohol per week, equal to five 2-unit drinks (such as 200 ml of wine with 12.5% alcohol and 500ml 5% alcohol beer) per week. However, recommendations vary between various countries and health organizations.
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Say no to smoking.
Smoking cigarettes cause the formation of fatty substances on the walls of our arteries. It can lead to a significant increase in blood pressure and can cause clogging in our arteries, thus mounting the risk of heart attack and stroke. If you smoke, quitting is the most important lifestyle change you can make to protect your health in the long run. One of the numerous health gains of not smoking is a compact risk of hypertension.
Conclusion.
Hypertension is occasionally referred to as a ‘silent killer’ because the disease has no obvious symptoms. Considering how common the condition is, see your doctor and consider making changes to incorporate more of these heart-healthy foods into your diet.