6 simple diet changes to reduce high blood pressure

What you eat and drink has a significant role in prevention and treatment of high blood pressure or hypertension. These 6 quick tips will help you control your blood pressure for better health.

Did you know a high salt diet also contributes to the condition in people who have a genetic tendency to retain sodium?  Restricting salt from an early age reduces the risk of high blood pressure. It’s still not too late though. Take a look at these tips on how to cut down salt:

A portion of the population, including older people and people with diabetes, appears to be particularly sensitive to sodium and may benefit significantly from ­eating low-sodium foods.

Experts disagree as to how much salt is too much; many recommend no more than 2,400 milligrams of sodium each day for healthy individuals.

The best way to reduce sodium intake is to avoid adding salt, and to avoid most processed foods, which are usually loaded with sodium.

Check labels carefully — look for the term "sodium" to find hidden salt. In addition to avoiding salty and pickled foods, use herbs and spices in cooking.

Losing excess weight is often all that’s needed to get your blood pressure back on track. Being even slightly overweight contributes to hypertension.

Even a modest weight loss will cause a drop in blood pressure.

No surprises here. A high-fat diet not only leads to weight gain but may also contribute to high blood pressure.

To tackle this, limit fat intake to 30 percent or less of total calories, with 10 percent or less coming from saturated animal fats. This means cutting back on butter and margarine; switching to low-fat milk and other low-fat dairy products; choosing lean cuts of meat; and shifting to low-fat cooking methods, such as broiling instead of frying.

Although a glass of wine or other alcoholic drink daily seems to reduce the chance of a heart attack, consuming more than this will negate any benefit and may increase the risk of hypertension.

Too much caffeine can also raise blood pressure.

Older adults with hypertension may be more sensitive to the effects of caffeine and should limit their intake.

Did you know that some nutrients may protect against high blood pressure? Check this out:

• Potassium, an electrolyte that helps maintain the body's balance of salt and fluids, helps ensure normal blood pressure.
• Potassium can be found in fruits and vegetables, dairy products and legumes.
• Some studies have linked calcium deficiency to hypertension; the diet should provide two to three servings of low-fat milk products a day.

Indulge in garlic – it’s for your health! A lot of research has been done on this and it looks like garlic may lower blood pressure.

Of course the downside of this is the amount of garlic necessary to lower blood pressure, however, can cause unpleasant breath and body odour.

Although garlic is available in odourless pills, it is not known if these pills produce the same benefits as eating garlic fresh or lightly cooked.

A further problem with garlic supplements is that the lack of government regulations means there is no assurance that the product in the bottle matches the contents on the label.
Still – a little garlic won’t hurt you!

It’s important to reduce high blood pressure for long-term health. The good news is you can make a lot of headway by following a discipline diet. These tips will help you make the best choices for health.