Posted on 30th January 20114 Responses
Food Medicine for High Blood Pressure
This post was originally published as Food Medicine for High Blood Pressure by Laurel on Health Food blog.
I had a conversation with someone this weekend about how to lower your blood pressure. The American Heart Association says that, “in 90–95 percent of cases, scientists don’t know what causes high blood pressure.” Of course, its important to talk to your doctor about the possible causes but, it can’t hurt to increase your intake of some or all of the following healthy foods and nutrients backed by nutritional research. Please note this is not a complete list-it only represents the foods I’ve found research for in the past year.
- Soy nuts – isoflavones in soy help relax muscles around your blood vessels so your blood can easily travel through
- Magnesium (found in nuts, whole grains, vegetables, and fish) – improves circulation and blood flow
- Potassium (cruciferous vegetables, eggplant, mushrooms, tomatoes) – improves circulation and blood flow
- Dark chocolate – flavonoids found in dark chocolate help to balance blood pressure and reduce cholesterol and blood clotting
- Omega-3s (found in fish, flaxseed oil, etc.) – a study found that flaxseed oil supplements significantly lowered systolic and diastolic blood pressure in men
Ever heard someone claim that coffee increases your blood pressure or risk of heart disease?
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