First things first: Stay away from salt.
At some point in your life, you’ve probably gotten so angry at your irresponsible ex-spouse or your WiFi cutting out during an important meeting that you swore you could feel your blood pressure spiking. What you were probably feeling was the rising tide of your rage. If it was your blood pressure, there would be a few more factors at play, including the food you eat.
While it’s true that blood pressure can fluctuate throughout the day, if it’s consistently high, that could be an indication that you have a condition called hypertension. According to the CDC, nearly half of American adults have hypertension, which can lead to heart attacks, stroke, heart failure, and other deadly issues. If you’re looking to reduce your blood pressure, there are a few habits you can enact to get those numbers down, including eating foods to lower blood pressure. For more on foods that affect blood pressure, we consulted Nieca Goldberg, MD, medical director of Atria New York City, and clinical associate professor of medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
What causes high blood pressure?
Blood pressure refers to the pressure of blood pushing against the walls of your arteries, and normal blood pressure is less than 120/80 mmHg. Your blood pressure measures two numbers: the pressure in your arteries when your heart beats (systolic) and when it rests between beats (diastolic). Hypertension is a systolic pressure of 130mmHg or higher and a diastolic of 80mmHg or higher.
But high blood pressure doesn’t happen all at once — which is why you can’t really blame hypertension on the reckless driver who just rear-ended you — but gradually builds over time. Certain lifestyle habits can contribute to high blood pressure, like not exercising and eating a diet that’s high in salt. Having diabetes can also increase your risk of developing high blood pressure, and certain people develop the condition while they’re pregnant.
How do you lower blood pressure?
Smoking raises blood pressure, as does drinking alcohol — so quitting smoking and limiting or eliminating alcohol consumption should be first on your list if you’re looking to cut unhealthy habits. (Dr. Goldberg says that a healthy amount of alcohol is no more than one drink a day for women and two for men.) You should also aim to exercise — “bare minimum, at least 30 minutes a day,” she says, adding that you don’t have to do it all at once for it to be beneficial. Even if you just park further away from the store you’re about to go shopping in, that can help. “In terms of lowering blood pressure, the regularity, as well as the duration, makes a difference,” she says. “So you can’t just exercise once a week or once every 15 days. It should be a regular activity, and at least a half hour a day.”
Foods to avoid if you have high blood pressure
Before we get into the foods that can help lower blood pressure, let’s first talk about the foods that raise blood pressure, so you know what to avoid or limit. A high-sodium diet can lead to high blood pressure, so the American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 1,500 mg of sodium per day for adults with high blood pressure — to put that into perspective, one teaspoon of salt contains 2,300 mg of sodium. Do you rely on salt to boost the flavor of your food? There are so many other flavorful seasonings that don’t have sodium, like lemon juice, garlic, turmeric, and many other herbs you probably already have sitting in your spice rack.
If you have high blood pressure, Dr. Goldberg warns that you should avoid processed foods because they can have a lot of sodium in them. “And you really need to read food labels because canned foods often have a lot of salt in them as a preservative,” she adds. According to the American Heart Association, Americans consume as much as 75 percent of their sodium through processed foods like soups, condiments, canned goods, and premade sauces.
She also cautions against consuming a lot of sugar: “Sugar plays a role because it contributes to weight gain, and as you gain weight, your blood pressure goes up.” And while these aren’t foods, there are certain medications that can increase blood pressure, like over-the-counter decongestants like Pseudoephedrine, Ephedrine, Phenylephrine, Naphazoline, and Oxymetazoline, which narrow blood vessels and in turn can increase blood pressure. Other medications to steer clear of include NSAIDs like ibuprofen or naproxen.
Are there foods to reduce hypertension?
“Generally foods that are unprocessed — like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy products — lower blood pressure,” says Dr. Goldberg. These foods are the foundation of the DASH Diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, which is a diet specifically geared toward lowering blood pressure. The diet emphasizes leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits that contain potassium, and berries. “These minerals and antioxidants help relax the blood vessels, and that brings about lower blood pressure,” Dr. Goldberg explains.
Here are some more foods you can eat if you’re trying to support healthy blood pressure:
Strawberries and blueberries: These berries contain anthocyanins, an antioxidant that was linked to lower blood pressure. (While they don’t necessarily reduce blood pressure, a 2012 study found that a higher anthocyanin consumption was associated with lower blood pressure in women. )
Bananas: Anyone who’s ever gotten a charley horse knows that bananas are a great source of potassium, which is a very important nutrient for reducing blood pressure. The more potassium you consume, the more sodium your body gets rid of through urination, so it helps lessen the effects of sodium on the body. It also eases tension in the walls of your blood vessels, which lowers blood pressure. If you’re not a fan of bananas, many other foods are rich in potassium, including, but not limited to avocados, cantaloupe, grapefruit, fat-free yogurt, and prunes.
Beets: A 2015 study found that people who consumed 250mL (or about a cup) of beet juice every day for four weeks had lower blood pressure. (A cup of beet juice is around two small beets or one large one, so if you’d rather roast up some beets and throw them in a salad, go for it!)
Kiwi: Another study from 2015 found that eating kiwi could help lower blood pressure. In the study, a group of adults with high blood pressure ate three kiwis per day, compared to the high blood pressure control group, which ate one apple a day for eight weeks. The researchers found that the group who ate kiwis was more likely to have lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure at the end of the study.
Oats: Oats are high in fiber, specifically a kind of fiber called beta-glucan, which may have protective cardiovascular effects, according to research. A small 2002 study found that eating oats could reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure — just another reason to fire up that Quaker.
