Most people suffering from high blood pressure tend to spend a lot on prescription medications and maintenance drugs.
In most cases, there is really nothing wrong with high-pressure medication, except, of course, your medical bills.
However, there are also people from whom high-pressure medication side effects can be pretty severe.
The good news is that there are foods that lower blood pressure naturally.
High fiber foods like oat bran, vegetables like spinach, cabbage and beans, fruits like apples and whole wheat bread help reduce cholesterol levels, one of the main risk factors for hypertension.
There are many fruits and vegetables that are especially rich in magnesium and potassium, which not only help maintain healthy blood pressure levels but also improve the heart’s function and prevent arteries from clotting.
Potassium also helps keep your sodium levels in check.
Fruits also have other nutrients like vitamins and antioxidants.
Among the highly recommended fruits for controlling high pressure are bananas, prunes, melons, and citrus.
Mother is, of course, right when she insists that kids eat their vegetables, since these are probably as close to the perfect food as you can get.
From vitamins, to antioxidants, to fiber, to other essential nutrients like beta-carotene, phytochemicals, and lycopene, to name just a few, vegetables just about have it all and are really the best foods that lower blood pressure naturally.
Bitter gourd or bitter melon is probably among the best vegetable for lowering blood pressure.
Although its taste does take a lot of getting used to, it is also very effective in treating diabetes, which can be caused by hypertension.
Green leafy vegetables such as lettuce, kale, and cabbage are rich in minerals, fiber, phytochemicals, and vitamins, which help prevent plaque from building up in blood vessels and causing atherosclerosis.
There are also herbs and spices that have been proven effective in lowering blood pressure.
In fact, in many countries, especially in the East, they have long been used in cooking as much for their medicinal properties as for the way they enhance the flavor of food.
Among the most highly recommended are garlic, onion, cinnamon, cardamom, and nutmeg.
Green tea has also been proven effective in reducing blood pressure and is believed to be one of the reasons Japanese are not as prone to strokes and heart conditions.
Of course, a healthy diet can only do so much.
Foods that lower blood pressure naturally has to be complemented with a change to a healthier lifestyle in order to be truly effective.
