What you should eat to lower your blood pressure
High blood pressure is a problem that many people have today because of the way they live. Blood pressure that isn’t under control is caused by things like high cholesterol levels, stress, tension, and bad time management.
If you have chronic high blood pressure, you need to make a lot of changes to your diet and get rid of any stress that might be causing the problem. People also think about following the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet, which promises to lower blood pressure in less time.
What are the benefits of the DASH diet?
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By adding foods from different nutrient-rich food groups, the DASH diet changes the amount of sodium in your diet, which helps lower blood pressure by a lot. If you stick to the DASH diet, your blood pressure readings will change a lot in just under two weeks. Experts say that the diet can lower your systolic blood pressure by 12 points, which can help you stay healthy in a big way.
Plan for what to eat
The diet makes you watch how much of each food group you eat based on how many calories you need each day. If you want to follow the DASH diet, you have to give up some things. The ultimate goal is to stop your daily sodium intake from going up. Here is a helpful list:
6 to 8 servings of grains
Grains like cereals, certain breads, and rice are usually low in fat and high in fiber, which cleans out the body and gets rid of any leftover bad cholesterol. Try to keep your options healthy and stick to whole grain versions instead of the refined ones you usually find.
Fruits and vegetables: 4 to 5 servings
The easiest way to fight high blood pressure and keep your heart healthy is to eat more fruits and vegetables. To get the most out of your diet, you should try to eat a lot of tomatoes, green vegetables, sweet potatoes, pomegranates, apples, and pears. They also have a lot of magnesium and potassium, which are both good for your health.
4 to 5 servings of nuts, seeds, and legumes
Sunflower seeds, chia seeds, lentils, and flax seeds are low in fat and high in omega-3 fatty acids and phytochemicals, both of which help keep your heart healthy. Since they have a lot of amino acids, soy and tofu are also good choices.
Sweets: 5 servings or fewer a week
Instead of cutting all sweets out of your diet, the DASH diet helps you cut back on your sweet tooth. It also gives you the chance to think about sweets that don’t have added sugar. Fruit juices, sorbets, and candy are all good sweets that won’t hurt your health.