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High Blood Pressure Diet
How does your diet affect your blood pressure?
High blood pressure can be a result of many factors. Some of the factors are out of your control, such as your age or family history.
However, lifestyle also plays an important role and adjusting your diet can help you reduce your blood pressure levels and prevent complications such as stroke and heart attack.
How your diet affects your blood pressure
What you eat affects your blood pressure in several ways.
Eating a lot of foods which are high in saturated fats can cause a condition called atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis causes your blood vessels to narrow, resulting in high blood pressure.
Foods that are high in fat or sugar can also contribute to obesity, which increases your risk of high blood pressure. The same applies if you eat more calories than you burn.
Some foods, such as salt, can raise your blood pressure. Other foods, for example those that are high in minerals such as potassium, may help to lower it.
Eating a balanced diet not only helps to keep you at a healthy weight but can also help you improve your blood pressure.
Which foods can increase high blood pressure?
Salt
One of the likely culprits in your diet that might be responsible for raising your blood pressure is salt. There is strong evidence to show that eating too much salt may have more of an effect on your blood pressure than obesity or lack of exercise.
A diet that’s high in salt can upset the normal balance of sodium in your body. This leads to fluid retention and increases your blood pressure. According to figures from Action on Salt it’s suggested that reducing your salt intake from 10g a day to 6g could reduce your blood pressure and an overall reduction in salt intake by this amount could result in a 16 per cent reduction in deaths from strokes and a 12 per cent reduction in deaths from coronary heart disease. Reducing salt is certainly one of the fastest ways to reduce your blood pressure, especially if you know that you already have high blood pressure.
Fatty Foods
A low-fat diet is recommended for most people who need to reach or maintain a healthy weight.
A lower fat diet may also help you keep your cholesterol levels low, or reduce them if you need to. High cholesterol can increase your risk of a stroke, or heart disease, and so if you already know that you have high cholesterol it’s even more important to make sure that you keep your blood pressure healthy. It can also help you lose weight.
Not all fats are bad - you can still eat foods that contain ‘good’ polyunsaturated fats and monounsaturated fats (think oily fish, avocado and olive oil) although don’t overdo it as they can still lead to weight gain.
Try to avoid saturated fats, these are usually found in processed foods like pies and cakes, red meats, butter, palm oil and ghee.
Are there any foods that lower blood pressure?
Foods which contain potassium, magnesium, and fibre are all thought to help control blood pressure.
Potassium is a mineral that helps to lower blood pressure by balancing out the negative effects that salt has on your body. You can get potassium from a wide range of foods, such as potatoes, (including sweet potatoes) bananas, no added sugar tomato sauce, orange juice, yoghurt and fat free milk. Tuna in all forms is also a good source of potassium but be careful not to choose tuna tinned in brine as it is very high in salt.
Nuts, seeds, legumes (beans), lean meats and poultry are good sources of magnesium.
Making sure that you get your five a day of fruit and vegetables is a good way to get fibre into your diet, as are nuts. Choose raw, unsalted nuts rather than salty snacks.
What is the best diet for blood pressure?
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension or DASH diet was designed by experts in the US an aid to lower high blood pressure. Recent studies have also found that it can help to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and even some types of cancer.
The basics of the DASH diet are that you should eat fewer foods that contain fats (especially saturated fats), cholesterol, red meat, sweets and sugary drinks.
The plan emphasises foods which are rich in nutrients known to have a positive effect on blood pressure, such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, protein and fibre. You can eat plenty of fruit and vegetables, low fat and fat free dairy products, fish, poultry, whole grains and nuts.
Some of the tips for following the DASH diet include:
- Opt for fresh, frozen or canned vegetables with no added salt.
- Choose fresh fish, poultry and meat.
- Avoid processed meats wherever possible.
- Don’t eat too many cured foods such as bacon.
- Avoid pickled foods, anything tinned in brine, and salty condiments.
- Don’t add salt when you’re cooking rice or pasta.
- Try to avoid ready meals and frozen convenience foods.
- Rinse tinned tuna and beans before eating to remove excess salt.
- Eat more fruit - add it to your breakfast or just have it as a healthy snack.
- Reduce your meat intake by using it as a smaller part of a meal instead of the main focus.
- Keep your alcohol consumption to a minimum as alcohol can increase your blood pressure.
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