Foods For Lower Blood Pressure
>> Thursday, December 11, 2008
If my title encourages you to expect a menu of specific foods that will lower your blood pressure I apologize for misleading you. Many people believe that certain foods or drinks have this ability. Some people, in fact, swear by miraculous cures from eating this or that, often an unusual item that is not part of our normal diet (otherwise we'd all be cured!).
Just a few of these foods, and some drinks, include celery root, garlic, chocolate, grapeseed, apple cider vinegar and beetroot juice. Some of these are also found as supplements and if you include this category you can add Hawthorne berry, magnesium, potassium, calcium, fish oil, Coenzyme Q10, and many others.
Some of these substances do have a certain amount of clinical credibility. Chocolate, garlic and beetroot juice, just to name a few, have recently made the news after studies indicating their effectiveness. But isn't it odd how they always seem to slip out of view after their 15 minutes of fame, so to speak? If they were really so effective wouldn't you expect more news along with a whole raft of successful products? Wouldn't a garlic-choco-beet smoothie go down great if it could relieve high blood pressure?
When you read beyond the headlines of these studies you will often see that the effects were minor (often just barely statistically significant) of short duration, or the method is totally impractical for regular use. In many cases, a small number of people get big results and the rest nothing. Any of these outcomes, however, is enough to generate a lot of quick publicity.
Blood pressure reductions and other health benefits derived from specific foods are often due to a deficiency in the consumer. Potassium, for example, has recently been shown to reduce blood pressure in some people. But in almost every case it's because the person had a potassium deficiency, a condition known to cause high blood pressure. Anyone eating a halfway healthy diet including fruit - especially bananas - vegetables and dairy products is unlikely to be potassium deficient. This is why some blood pressure remedies work for some people, while most don't for most people.
So is consuming these items a complete waste of effort? Not necessarily. Many of these foods are good nutrition and can be part of a varied, balanced diet. There's also a chance that one or the other may benefit your blood pressure, maybe even in a cumulative way. A cup of hot cocoa, for instance, gives you a whole soup of potential hypertension relievers including chocolate (get a gourmet type high in cocoa content, preferably dark), calcium and potassium.
Hot cocoa is also enjoyable and it can help you sleep. But there's not much point in consuming unusual foods only for their alleged health benefit. Neither is there any need for expensive supplements. None of these things is a dependable high blood pressure remedy, much less a miracle cure.
But there's another, better, way to look at foods to lower blood pressure and that's as part of a complete diet. Your overall diet surely has a much greater influence on your blood pressure - and your health in general - than any single food you may consume. What's more, a healthy and balanced diet also eliminates the need for most, if not all, supplements.
If you've suffered high blood pressure for any length of time you've surely heard of the DASH diet (acronym for the awkward "Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension"). The DASH diet is basically sound nutrition recommending a daily consumption of around 30% fat, 20% protein and 50% carbohydrates.
DASH guidelines detail the relative importance of different food types but probably the most important dietary principle of all can be stated in one sentence; avoid processed foods and eat a varied, balanced diet of natural, whole foods. Processed foods to avoid include not only the obvious snacks and junk foods but also low-fat and low-sodium formulations wrongly promoted as health foods. Worst of all are processed "substitutes" for natural and wholesome foods such as eggs, meat and dairy products.
We all know that natural foods usually contain more nutrients and fiber than processed. But the biggest problem with processed foods from a blood pressure perspective is that they tend to be high in salt and low in other minerals. Salt itself is not the culprit it's made out to be but the mineral imbalance in processed foods is a prescription for high blood pressure.
Natural, whole foods tend to be balanced in minerals and other nutrients. Eating a varied diet including all the food groups further helps to ensure a good balance of nutrients. Following this single principle will do more for good health and lower blood pressure in the long run than any amount of "miracle" foods or supplements.
About the Author
David O'Hara is a writer and research in natural health. Visit his website Control-Your-Blood-Pressure.com to discover an easy, natural way to lower blood pressure and manage stress.
