Posts Tagged ‘Blood Pressure Diet’
If you are reading this article either you or someone you care about has been diagnosed with hypertension and you want to find out the best foods to be on. The great news is that hypertension can be cured and this article will show you what diet you need to be on to reverse this. Maintain this diet and keep yourself on the healthy path once you have successfully managed to bring down your blood pressure.
Here is the best hypertension diet that will dramatically and positively lower your blood pressure within the space of a few weeks.
Stock Up On Your Vegetables. Getting your required portion of vegetables a day is important because it contains the nutrients that will help lower your blood pressure. You need to eat up to 5 servings of vegetables a day. One of the best ways to stock up on your vegetables is to include a bowl of salad with each meal you have each day. Mix in tomatoes, spinach leaves, cucumbers, peppers, carrots and even potatoes. Use your imagination! This is a great way to have a variety of different vegetables consumed on a daily basis.
Eat Your Fruit. Fruit is as equally as important as vegetables in lowering your blood pressure. Fruit abundant in Vitamin C is important such as oranges and apples. Again aim for up 5 servings of fruit a day. A great of achieving this – is start with a glass of orange juice in the morning, during your breakfast, slice up a banana and pour it over your cornflakes, snack on an apple and orange just before lunchtime and aim for about 20 grapes as desert after your dinner.
Swap for Whole Grains. Whole Grains contains a lot of the nutrients that lowers blood pressure. Oats are not only beneficial to lowering your cholesterol levels but also your blood pressure. Opt for whole grain bread, whole grain pasta and brown rice.
Fish. Aim for up to 3 servings of fish a week. Fish that is particularly rich in beneficial oils known as omega-3 fatty acids are mackerel, tuna, salmon, mullet, sardines, herring and trout. If you don’t like fish take a supplement of fish oil or 1 tablespoon of flaxseed oil daily.
Aim for Lean. When choosing you meat opt for lean meats and poultry, they are always a healthier choice and also opt for low fat dairy products.
Go Nutty. Nuts contain a variety of nutrients and vitamins that help lower blood pressure in addition to reducing your risk of diabetes. Go for Brazil Nuts, Walnuts and Almonds. Between them they contain, omega 3s, vitamin E, potassium and selenium.
Drink Your Water. We all know that drinking water is good for us. But the reason water is good is because it helps keep our bodies clean from toxins and waste. It helps flush out sodium from our bodies and it has the added benefit of making us feel fool which makes us eat less helping us lose weight. It’s important to keep hydrated – aim for 6-8 glasses of water a day.
Eat Less Salt. There is a very strong link to overconsumption of salt and high blood pressure. The recommended salt intake is just one level teaspoonful a day. Overconsumption of salt is linked to high blood pressure, heart disease and stroke. Cutting down on your salt intake can save your life literally. Because salt already exists in our bread, biscuits, beans, cereals, soups, pizzas, cheese and so on, don’t add to it anymore. Use spices and pepper to flavour your food and if you can cut down on readymade meals do, eat fresh food where you control the amount of salt intake. If you lead a busy lifestyle however and survive on fast foods, then increase your water intake in order to flush out the excess salt.
Next, get your own step by step guide here to lower blood pressure and prevent hypertentions.
Milk protein may be the answer to lowering high blood pressure in some people; however, it isn’t the only alternative. In fact, did you know that making something as natural as eating garlic apart of your regular diet can actually reduce blood pressure and help you manage your hypertension?
Garlic is a vegetable that is extremely beneficial to the heart and the entire cardiovascular system. It is considered to be a natural remedy for high blood pressure that has significant, positive effects when made part of a daily diet. Studies have found that by eating a single small garlic clove per day, a person can effectively manage their hypertension.
In fact some clinical studies have found garlic to decrease the systolic blood pressure by as much as 20 mm Hg to 30 mm Hg, and the diastolic blood pressure by as much as 10 mm Hg to 20 mm Hg in participants.
For instance, one 12 week study concluded that participants with high blood pressure who ingested a single clove of garlic per day had significant reductions in their systolic and diastolic blood pressure by the end of the study.
In addition, studies have also been conducted on testing the effectiveness of garlic powder taken in the form of a supplement for controlling blood pressure. These studies also found a significant reduction in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in participants who suffered from mild hypertension.
How does garlic lower blood pressure? It is believed that garlic can effectively lower blood pressure because it reduces spasms that occur in the small arteries. It also slows the pulse rate and modifies the rhythm of the heart. In addition, garlic can relieve gas in the digestive tract, numbness, dizziness and shortness of breath. Thus, garlic has been used as a herbal remedy as an effective method for treating various health problems aside form hypertension including infection, inflammation and heart disease.
Moreover, research has found that there are three chemicals found in garlic that are exceptionally helpful in treating high blood pressure. These chemicals are alliin, allinase, and allicin, and are particular effective for improving blood circulation.
How can you add garlic to your daily diet to manage your blood pressure? The following are two recommendations:
1. Eat fresh raw garlic cloves – you can eat a single raw clove of garlic per day with a meal or by itself. You don’t need to eat an exceptionally large clove, a small one should suffice. Just make sure the clove is fresh, as dried garlic no longer contains the properties that are beneficial for health.
2. Take garlic supplements in capsule form – This is often the preferred method, as most people don’t enjoy chewing on a raw piece of garlic. Herbalists recommend taking 300mgs of garlic capsule supplements three times daily (I.E. 3 capsules per day). Note: Be sure to read the instructions on the back of supplements before taking them.
If you decide to take garlic supplements, keep in mind that you should only do so under the supervision of a health practitioner. The reason is because garlic can thin the blood and can interact with other drugs and supplements that are prescribed for blood thinning such as Trental (pentoxifylline) and Coumadin (warfarin), aspirin, gingko, and vitamin E. Furthermore, it is often recommended that those who will be undergoing surgery should stop taking garlic as treatment a few weeks before and after surgery.
If you think garlic is a remedy you would like to try as treatment for managing your high blood pressure, be sure to talk to your doctor first for recommendations.
As more and more people are falling in the ambit of the problems created by high blood pressure, they are in the same pace opting for ways to handle the problem naturally. The reason being that hypertension or high blood pressure not only affects the heart and the veins carrying blood, but it also has considerable damages on the kidney and the pancreas. And when you along the natural way to cure your blood pressure, the other organs are quite saved.
High blood pressure is predominantly a lifestyle-related disorder. So the best way to fight it is to include the lifestyle changes that will have positive effects on the body.
Eat healthy
One of the most common causes of developing high blood pressure is being over-weight. Obesity is a direct consequence of bad eating habits and binging on non-rich diet plan. Consuming healthy food leads to a healthy body and in turn to normal blood pressure levels. Your diet should include more and more fruits, fresh vegetables and food rich in roughage content. You should keep your diet low on saturated fats. Always try to cook your food in the oils that are rich in monosaturated oils like olive oil.
Exercise
Besides eating good and healthy food, exercising is also an important part for maintaining healthy blood pressure levels. You can follow any of the exercising patterns depending on your comfort ability. Practicing of yoga and meditation also has been known to have positive effect on people suffering from hypertension.
Reduce Sodium Intake
Besides this, reducing salt intake in your meals also helps in lowering down your blood pressure to a great extent. Sodium present in salt increases water retention in body, which in turn increases the pressure of the blood. So to counter the increased sodium level in the body, you should involve foodstuffs, which are rich in potassium, as it helps in the reduction of sodium in the body.
Eat Natural Elements That Lower Blood Pressure
Similarly, element “magnesium” is also effective in lowering down high blood pressure. Nuts and whole cereal grains are rich in magnesium content. Naturally occurring element calcium is also vital in fighting hypertension. Some of the dairy products like kale is also a good defense against high blood pressure.
Vitamin C Also Helps
Various studies have also shown that there are some vitamins that also work in direction of reducing high blood pressure. Of them Vitamin C is of grave importance. It is a crucial vitamin in maintaining normal blood pressure levels. This vitamin makes the blood vessels strong and healthy.
Adopt Good Lifestyle Habits
Staying away from tobacco and alcohol also has strong and immediate effects on the problem of hypertension. Sleeping regularly and not indulging in too much of stress and tension also help in countering increasing blood pressure problems.
By now, you would be clear about how to deal with high blood pressure problem. The mantra only remains a simple and a healthy lifestyle.
Of all the natural therapies, the one that has caught the attention of the many is the hot tub therapy. It is popularly known as the hydrotherapy and is believed to be one of the most impeccable ways to improve general health of people.
Apart from treating some common ailments like back pains and joint pains, hypertension or high blood pressure is also known to get cured with the use of hot tubs. Generally, the therapy involving hot tub is used as an assistant treatment to the regular medications that a person suffering from high blood pressure is indulging in.
But the patient is always advised to consult their doctor before trying this therapy to lower their blood pressure. This is because, the therapy initially increases the body’ blood pressure due to increased temperature of the body. Therefore people with high blood pressure should first consult their doctors before using this kind of water therapy.
However, hot water has a very positive effect on your body as it dilates the blood vessels. As the blood vessels dilate, the heart does not have to work hard in pumping blood in the vessels. The lowered activity in the heart provides an over-all relief to the high blood pressure patient. But for some patients such kind of relaxation is not optimal.
The reason because of which the blood vessels dilate when brought in contact with hot water is very simple. When your body comes in touch with hot water, there is reflex that goes to your brain with information that your body temperature has risen from the normal levels. Thus the vessels near the skin, which are in direct touch with the water relaxes and dissipates all heat outside the body. Thus all these developments in the body dilate the vessels. This process in medical terms is known as Vasodilation. In vasodilation more oxygen is transported to all body parts. Oxygen is a very important element for your body as it hastens the process of healing.
Apart from this, the process of vasodilation has another important advantage for the body. It helps the blood in clearing itself from all the waste accumulated in it. With the day in progress, the food you eat and the physical activities that you perform, a lot of waste and harmful chemical substances get deposited in the body. With hot tub treatment and the process of vasodilation, the blood reaches fast to the body parts and thus removes the waste products. This could again help lower your blood pressure.
So talk to your doctor now and find out if hot tubs can help you decrease your blood pressure.