What foods lower blood pressure?

Maintaining a stable blood pressure is paramount in our Western culture. We are surrounded by high fat, high sodium foods everywhere we go and on every form of advertising. High blood pressure is a silent killer. Very few symptoms and it can hit at any time. Of course, a healthy diet is part of the key, but what foods lower blood pressure?

The first and most important is low sodium. We are a nation that is obsessed with salt. Almost all frozen foods as well as restaurant prepared foods are loaded with salt. Even many of the bottled drinks have a ton of sodium. While our bodies do need some salt, a high sodium intake can increase blood pressure. Making a decision to lower your salt intake is difficult, but, you will be surprised at the actual real taste of food when you do!

Fruit, of course. Organic fresh fruit is now available in many of even the chain supermarkets. When making your list of what foods lower blood pressure, fruits should be on the top of the list.

Lean meats. That means beef with very little (or no) fat and chicken or turkey without the skin. A diet high in animal fat contributes to high blood pressure. So that means cut out the bacon and sausage at breakfast and replace ham with skinless chicken.

Any kind of fresh vegetable. Frozen vegetables are fine as long as they haven’t been packed with sodium. Canned vegetables are iffy. Most of them have been canned with sodium additive. The best vegetables, with the highest vitamin count are organic. Stop by your local farmers market. Many of the vegetables they have are organic and you just can’t beat the straight from the farm taste.

Low sodium margarines and vegetable oils. Canola oil and olive oil are both excellent for your health. Again, organic is your best choice.

Soups are a tough one. You will have to be diligent at looking at the labels. Most soups are extremely high in sodium content. Manufacturers are finally getting the picture and there are a few on the market now that tout low sodium on the label. Be sure to see what their concept of low sodium means. There are also some organic low sodium soups and they are the best choice, if you can find them. Best place to look is at a high quality health food store.

If you are a seafood lover, only get fresh or if you have to, frozen fish. Packaged fish products are loaded with salt. Fresh is preferred, but see if you can find an organic fish market. There are still mercury problems in fish so you don’t want to trade one problem for another.

Bread is ok – but limit yourself to selections like loaf bread, pita bread (good for sandwiches) English muffins and bagels. Talk to your local baker to see if they offer a low sodium version of your favorites.

If you are a person like me, milk is a part of your daily life. Organic skim milk or low fat milk should be in your shopping cart. There are a number of varieties available now and even most of the big chain stores carry them.

If you begin shopping wisely, you can easily develop a tasty list of foods to eat that help to lower blood pressure.

The information supplied in this article is not to be considered as medical advice and is for educational purposes only.