There are more than 65 million people who are already suffering from high blood pressure and another 45 million people that are in a prehypertension stage. Hypertension can lead to a number of cardiovascular complications and is one of the major causes of stroke and heart attacks. When detected with high blood pressures, medical practitioners usually do not prescribe medication as the first line of treatment. They focus more on your diet and lifestyle to help you lower your high blood pressure.

Ideally a diet for managing high blood pressure should have low sodium content and should be low in cholesterol and saturated fats. The potassium and magnesium content of the diet should be high and it should also be rich in vitamins and antioxidants. The main aim of having good food to control high blood pressure is to cut out those foods from your diet that would result in increasing your blood pressure.

It is typically suggested that the sodium intake of people suffering from high blood pressure should be low than 3000 mg on a daily basis. The best way to reduce the intake of sodium is to cut down the consumption of packaged food. It is difficult to realize that a serving of tomato sauce alone contains 250 mg of sodium and this can add up to the sodium that you already have in the salt. This can be a similar case for salad dressings, preferring a spoon of olive oil in replacement to salad dressing will help you reduce quite amount of sodium in your regular diet.

Now that you are aware of the food that you should avoid, let us see the foods that are good and you can include in your diet. It is important to have fresh fruits and vegetables because they have a low in fat, sodium and cholesterol content. Some of the vegetables that are good in potassium and magnesium content include: apricots, figs, raisins and sultanas, tomatoes, dried mixed fruits, avocadoes, potatoes, bananas and most of the nuts and seeds (unsalted). You can include broccoli, black beans, scallops, peanuts, spinach, soymilk, oysters, whole wheat bread and whole grain cereals.

The best way to have a good diet to control high blood pressure is by cooking your meal with fresh vegetables. Avoid using packaged stuff and also avoid eating pre-cooked meals, because they all contain high sodium content and are rich in cholesterol and fats which is not good for your health. Cooking food yourself will take time, but it is the healthiest way in which you can stay fit.

If you are diagnosed of high blood pressure then ask your doctor for a diet regimen that you can follow. Even if you are not diagnosed of high blood pressure but are at a risk, then it is important that you follow a healthy life schedule and include the foods mentioned above in your diet to keep yourself healthy.

Mark Perry

Copyrighted material; do not reprint without permission.

 

View all articles by Mark Perry