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Diet For High blood pressure

Chronically high blood pressure, which is medically, called hypertension s a common disease in today's world. It increases the risk of stroke and heart disease.  In most cases high blood pressure cannot be cured medically but can be lowered with the help of a proper diet. A diet that consists of fruit, vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, poultry, fish, nuts and whole grain products helps in lowering the blood pressure.

The first and foremost task that one should do to lower the elevated blood pressure is to limit the consumption processed foods which consists of high sodium like earlier packed, foods which either stored in cans or frozen and cured and smoked meats. Only those foods should be consumed which have low sodium, or salt free. Salt substitutes should also be avoided because all substitutes are not sodium free. Sodium causes vasoconstriction, which is the narrowing of blood vessels. This decrease creates an increase in the resistance, which the blood has to overcome. This makes it difficult for the arteries to expand with each beat and therefore this causes the internal pressure to rise.

Along with the diet, it is also important to keep a good body weight, which can come with regular exercising. Regular exercises helps in reducing weight if you are heavy and this in turn also keeps your blood pressure in control. Drinking too much of alcohol elevates the blood pressure and therefore alcohol should not be a part of the diet.

The diet for a person with elevated blood pressure person should also contain large quantities of minerals like potassium, calcium, magnesium, dietary fibre and protein compared to a normal diet as these minerals help in lowering blood pressure. This diet is useful not only for people who have high blood pressure but also for any normal person. Potassium comes from fruits like bananas, oranges and orange juice, watermelon, as well as, zucchini, cantaloupe, spinach, and potatoes. It is also present in avocados, tomato juice, grapefruit juice and acorn squash. Potassium helps maintaining intracellular osmotic pressure, which is the force, which is required to control the flow of water across a membrane. The daily intake of potassium should be seven grams in total. Food rich in calcium include low fat milk, green beans, sardines with bones, broccoli, spinach and tofu. Foods rich in magnesium include legumes and seeds such as navy beans and sunflower seeds.

While cooking the food of a person with high blood pressure one can use fresh and dried herbs like onions, garlic, basil, oregano, parsley  thyme, rosemary, black and red pepper and onion and garlic powders. These herbs add flavor without adding sodium. Saffron can also be used in the cooking because saffron contains a chemical called crocetin that lowers blood pressure A tea can be prepared using saffron which is very beneficial if taken by persons who have high blood pressure.

Therefore it can be said that a diet for a person having high blood pressure should be low in saturated fat, sugar and salt. It should contain more vegetables and garlic and onion should also be consumed regularly.

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