7 Blood Pressure Management Diet Foods That Do Wonders To Your Body

Are you experiencing pounding in your chest, ears, and neck or irregular heartbeat? Is confusion or fatigue deteriorating your quality of life? If you replied affirmatively with a concern, you might be suffering from high blood pressure. High blood pressure is a condition resulting due to an increased force of your blood against the walls of your arteries. It is also known as hypertension. The force that your blood exerts on the walls of your arteries is called blood pressure, which is normal when it is within limits. However, when this force or pressure of the blood increases while pumping the blood in the arteries for a continued span, you suffer from hypertension.

Severe headaches, fatigue, nosebleed, chest pain, difficulty in breathing, irregular heartbeat, and vision problems are some discomforting symptoms of high blood pressure. Hypertension, if ignored or left untreated, can even make you suffer from heart diseases. So, managing your blood pressure is crucial to enjoying good health. While there are medicines for hypertension in the conventional mode of treatment, they can cause side effects and drug dependency. Fortunately, you can alleviate your blood pressure by making dietary changes. Adding certain healthy foods to your high bp diet can help reduce your blood pressure while nourishing your body and managing your weight. Check out a list of the best foods for blood pressure management.

1. Berries

Berries are healthy fruits that help mitigate your blood pressure naturally. Strawberries and blueberries are rich in antioxidant compounds known as anthocyanins, which minimizes the risk of hypertension and other risk factors responsible for heart conditions. Anthocyanins in the berries have been found to boost nitric oxide levels in your blood and taper the formation of blood-vessel-limiting molecules. This helps in lowering blood pressure levels naturally. So, include fresh berries in your high blood pressure diet plan. You can add berries to your smoothies or oatmeal, or you can snack on them after meals.

2. Bananas

Rich in potassium, banana is another healthy food that helps treat hypertension. Potassium content in bananas reduces the effects of sodium and minimizes the tension on the walls of blood vessels. You can have a banana in the breakfast or add it to your fruit salad. Expert dieticians can help you add potassium abundant foods, such as avocadoes, sweet potatoes, and beans, among others, to your high blood pressure diet in the right quantities to alleviate your blood pressure levels. Individuals having kidney diseases should have a word with their doctor as an excess of potassium might be harmful to their health.

3. Pistachios

Pistachios are known for their powerful effect on lowering blood pressure levels in adults. They are a highly nutritious food containing fibre, protein, healthy fats, antioxidants, and high levels of potassium, which helps reduce blood pressure. High quantities of phytosterols and monounsaturated fatty acids in this nut offer blood-pressure-lowering effects. Pistachios are effective in reducing diastolic as well as systolic blood pressure. So, you can munch on these crunchy nuts as an evening snack or add them to your smoothies or fruit salad.

4. Carrots

The staple vegetable carrot is another diet food that helps you manage your blood pressure levels. Crunchy carrots are not just rich in antioxidants but also contain phenolic compounds, such as p-coumaric, chlorogenic, and caffeic acids, which help your blood vessels relax and mitigate inflammation. As a result, it causes a drop in the blood pressure levels of hypertensive patients. So, be sure you add carrots to your high blood pressure diet plan. You can cook the sweet, nutritious carrots or munch them raw. However, eating raw carrots are more effective in lowering blood pressure levels than cooked ones.

5. Leafy Green Vegetables

Leafy green vegetables are not just rich in vitamins, fibre, and minerals, but also abundant in nitrates that help lower blood pressure in individuals suffering from hypertension. Some medical research states that the consumption of one or two servings of leafy greens daily can lower your hypertension for about 24 hours. So, adding these nutritious vegetables to your daily diet can work wonders in managing your hypertension and preventing the risk of heart-related conditions. Spinach, kale, cabbage, lettuce, and collard greens are some nutritious leafy greens that can help you in blood pressure management.

6. Beets

The consumption of fresh beet juice can work wonders in lowering your blood pressure levels in a while and over time. Beet is rich in inorganic nitrate that helps in alleviating blood pressure in hypertensive patients. Simply drinking a glass of beet juice daily can help you experience incredible benefits for managing your blood pressure. Also, you can add freshly cut slices of beet to your salads.

7. Oats

Oats is another diet food that helps alleviate blood pressure levels. They contain a fibre known as beta-glucan which may help relieve hypertension. Greater intake of beta-glucan fibre can help reduce both diastolic and systolic blood pressure. So, add oats to your high bp diet. You can begin your day by relishing a bowl of oatmeal.

3 Foods to Avoid When Dealing with Hypertension

While you follow a high blood pressure diet with nutritious foods, you also need to avoid certain foods that can raise your blood pressure. Here’s a list of foods to avoid with high blood pressure.

1 Salt

The intake of sodium causes a boost in blood pressure levels. Salt is a rich source of sodium. Reducing the intake of salt can help lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure effectively.

2. Caffeine

Tea, coffee, and energy drinks contain caffeine which can cause a spike in your blood pressure for a short term. Caffeine can raise both diastolic and systolic blood pressure. So, when you are following a high bp diet to manage your hypertension issues, avoid having caffeine.

3. Alcohol

Excess consumption of alcohol can cause a substantial spike in your blood pressure levels. Also, heavy drinking of alcohol increases the risk of serious health conditions, such as stroke, obesity, cancer, and heart failure. So, it is wise to avoid alcohol for blood pressure management and to maintain good health.

Simple Helpful Tips to Follow Along with Diet to Manage Your Blood Pressure:

While you follow a high blood pressure diet plan, making simple lifestyle changes can help you achieve desired outcomes and attain good health smoothly. Here are some helpful tips that can help you in blood pressure management.

• Exercise regularly.
• Reduce your weight healthily. Also, work on reducing your waistline by getting rid of belly fat.
• Keep processed foods at bay.
• Cut back on sugar.
• Quit smoking.
• Monitor your blood pressure levels at home.
• Reduce your stress. Avoid stress triggers. Do yoga stretches and medication.
• Have continuous, sound sleep.

If you are suffering from hypertension and wish to reduce your blood pressure naturally, resort to high blood pressure diet plan. Certified dieticians, such as health experts at Health Total, can help you have a personalised high bp diet and guide you to follow the right dietary and lifestyle modifications to lower your blood pressure. So, hurry up, reach out to us online or over a call on 1-800-843-0206 and get set to have healthy blood pressure levels with our customised health plans for blood pressure management.