One of the most important things that you can do to live longer and to avoid heart disease, strokes, or kidney disease is to maintain a normal blood pressure. Now there's lots of medications available to lower your blood pressure, but these medications should only be used as a last resort as they all have their side effects and they can drop your blood pressure too low.
So in this post, I'll give you the top five foods that you need to eat to start lowering your blood pressure today and to come off blood pressure medications down the road.
1. Beetroot Juice
The first food that has quite a bit of evidence for effectively reducing your blood pressure is beetroot juice, beets are very rich in nitrates, and these inorganic nitrates get converted to bioactive nitrites that help dilate our blood vessels.
Ut's through this vasodilation of the blood vessels that we lower the vascular resistance that causes high blood pressure, and that in turn enhances the blood flow circulation and helps our vessels deliver more nutrients and oxygen to our organs.
A meta-analysis from placebo-controlled, double-blind, randomized control trials showed that inorganic nitrate and beetroot juice supplementation was associated with a significant decrease in blood pressure with an average reduction of systolic blood pressure of 4.4 millimeters of mercury.
This meta-analysis showed there was no difference in taking beetroot juice versus inorganic nitrate supplements. This is a very impressive reduction in blood pressure, especially as a result of a natural compound that doesn't have the side effects of most blood pressure medications.
But it is important to note that the trials were limited to a maximum of only 15 days, and we do need longer and larger trials to study the long-term effects and protective benefits.
2. Dark Chocolate
The next food that will help you naturally lower your blood pressure is dark chocolate, specifically the dark chocolate that is rich in flavanols. Coco-flavonoids are anti-inflammatory, and they exert antioxidant effects to protect the blood vessels.
They do this by increasing nitric oxide bioavailability, which in turn protects the vascular endothelium or the lining of the blood vessels where damage usually occurs.
A Cochrane review and meta-analysis of 35 trials showed moderate quality evidence that flavanol-rich chocolate causes a small, but a statistically significant drop in blood pressure over about 2 millimeters mercury.
The problem with the data is that it included trials that lasted anywhere from 2 to 18 weeks, and the doses range all over the place, anywhere from 30 to 1,000 milligrams of flavanols. So, it's hard to tell how much of dark chocolate you need to eat and for how long to get the full benefits.
3. Tea
Another food that will help you lower your blood pressure is not a food, but it's actually a drink, this drink is no other than green tea, we have evidence that regular consumption of either green or black tea at 2 to 6 cups per day is associated with a significant reduction in blood pressure.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 25 studies show the long-term intake of green tea lowers systolic blood pressure by 2.6 millimeters of and diastolic blood pressure by 2.2 millimeters mercury in those drinking it for longer than 12 weeks.
Now, green tea does provide a greater effect on your blood pressure than black tea, and it's probably related to its higher content of phytochemicals in its leaves, which in animal studies has been shown to reduce inflammation, reduce reactive oxygen species in the blood vessels, and it has been shown to improve insulin sensitivity.
4. Flaxseed
The next food that is crucial to naturally lower your blood pressure is flaxseed. Flaxseed is extremely rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and a meta-analysis of 70 randomized controlled trials showed that the consumption of omega-3s, like EPA and DHA, can reduce systolic blood pressure by up to 4.5 millimeters and diastolic blood pressure by 3 millimeters mercury, and the greatest effect was seen among those who had untreated blood pressure.
Flaxseed is also full of magnesium and soluble fiber, and both of those have been shown to lower blood pressure. Other food sources that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids is cold water fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, and tuna, and many nuts, especially walnuts.
5. Kiwis
Lastly, eating kiwis has also been shown to reduce systolic blood pressure, and a recent randomized controlled trial showed that the group that ate two kiwi fruit per day for seven weeks had almost a three millimeter reduction in systolic blood pressure when compared to placebo.
Kiwis are very rich in vitamin C, and there's a lot of studies that show that proper vitamin C levels are very important for blood pressure regulation. Like this meta-analysis of 29 trials noted that getting at least 500 milligrams of vitamin C per day over a period of eight weeks had an average lowering of blood pressure by almost five millimeters mercury.
Conclusion
There's many more foods that can help you lower your blood pressure naturally, but these are the top five that I would recommend to start.
I also want to emphasize that to effectively lower your blood pressure is just as important to know which foods to avoid, and it's also important to reverse conditions that raise your blood pressure like insulin resistance.
Last but not least, we cannot neglect other important tools like proper and restorative sleep and targeted movement and exercise, and I plan to cover all those in my future posts, so follow and subscribe for more. I hope this was helpful.
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