Sunday, October 25, 2009

How To Reduce Blood Pressure

By Sarah Hobbs

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.

Thankfully there are natural ways you can reduce your blood pressure and prevent it from getting beyond normal 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 discovered that lowering cholesterol, red meats and saturated fats in the diet and increasing fruits and vegetable and low fat milk products as well as whole grains can have a significant impact on high blood pressure. They found that including organic poultry, fish and cutting out processed sugars also helped.

The key minerals in the fight against high blood pressure are magnesium potassium and calcium, so including foods rich in these elements is important. 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.

Some of the foods that are great for lowering blood pressure are ordinary enough, they just may have been forgotten in your diet. Calcium and vitamin D are found in skimmed milk. Vitamin D and calcium work together in the body to ease hypertension and have been known to reduce it by a mean of 4% - not a large figure but in the world of hypertension the difference between living and dying. Getting about half an hour of sun on at least 25% of your body is also crucial for vitamin D absorption.

Eating spinach will also help to lower your blood pressure. Unsalted nuts and seeds as well as beans and legumes are also essentials. All of these are rich in calcium, potassium and magnesium, the key blood pressure elements. 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.

Another trio of high blood pressure fighters is potatoes, soybeans and bananas. Salt and potassium share a close relationship in the body and that is why its so important. 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 friend in the cupboard just became even better. Cheers dark chocolate! Studies have shown that eating around thirty calories (about 14 grams, so not too much!) will have a positive effect on your blood pressure without causing any weight gain or other negative affect. 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.

Remember, changing your diet to reduce your blood pressure doesn't mean eating bland forever. You will be living a healthier more active life, the benefits of which are untold, and most of all the deadly shadow of hypertension will be dispelled and you can gain control of your life once more. - 14130

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