10 Foods That Naturally Lower Blood Pressure

The primary reason certain foods lower blood pressure is because they are rich sources of an almost magical mineral called potassium. Men and women should consume 4000 – 5000 milligrams daily for the best results. In fact that is the recommended daily allowance; however, in today’s world of commercial farming, depleted soils and poor quality fast foods it is more difficult to achieve optimum potassium consumption for lower blood pressure.

Here are the 10 foods that naturally lower blood pressure:

Garlic

Garlic has been shown to significantly lower blood pressure in at least one double blind study and several others show that both systolic and diastolic readings show marked improvement in those consuming liberal amounts of garlic. Nobody seems to know the exact reasons why garlic lowers blood pressure, just that it does.

Garlic also thins the blood so if you are on a medication to thin your blood such as aspirin, warafin, coumadin or pradaxa you should check with your health care provider (doctor) before you use garlic to lower your blood pressure naturally.

Fresh garlic offers a small amount of minerals and vitamins but that isn’t where the power comes from. Garlic is full of sulfur (sulphur) from which it derives a lot of its antimicrobial properties but nobody seems to know where its power to lower blood pressure comes from. It works best fresh or in powdered capsule form. If you cook it, cook it sparingly because the more you cook it the weaker it gets.

The Super Tuber – Baked Potato

Baked potatoes are an excellent source of potassium. The meat of medium potato contains approximately 600 – 700 milligrams but that amount more than doubles if you eat the skin providing a power punch of over 1600 milligrams when eating both meat and skin. Other tubers, like the potato, that are rich in potassium are carrots and beets.

Milk

4 (8 ounce) glasses of low fat 2% milk per day will help you achieve 1700 milligrams of potassium and a whole days supply of calcium.

Legumes

Beans, peas and lentils are rich sources of potassium. Lentils are especially rich in the mineral. Another benefit of legumes is that they are also chalked full of fiber and protein.
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Green Vegetables

A mere 100 grams of spinach ( a tad more than 1/2 cup cooked) offers 302 milligrams of the magic mineral while packing a whopping 676% of the daily vitamin K, 241% of the vitamin A, 18% of the vitamin E, 10% of the riboflavin, 15% of the calcium, 11% of the iron, 21% of the magnesium, 36% of the manganese, 8% of the selenium and 30% of the folate needed for good health. Spinach is a powerhouse, a super food vegetable.

Other super food type vegetables include brussel sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, mustard greens, chard and broccoli. All are great sources of potassium, magnesium and calcium. They also contain some vegetable protein, fiber and are a rich source of disease fighting anti-oxidants.
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Those who are on blood thinning medication should check with their physician before consuming large amounts of these vegetable because a little more than half a cup of spinach though extremely good for most people could have a negative impact on those who need to limit their vitamin K intake to reduce clotting.

Bananas

One large banana will provide almost 500 milligrams of potassium. They are also a very good source of the vitamins C, B6, folate and contain minerals such as magnesium, manganese, copper, calcium, phosphorus and selenium as well. The only drawback to bananas is that they contain high amounts of natural fruit sugars, sucrose, fructose and glucose. Diabetics need to be cautious when eating bananas.

Kiwi

Kiwi fruit is jam packed with vitamin’s K, C, folate and the minerals potassium, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. Kiwi also contains high amounts of natural fruit sugars.

Pomegranate

One pomegranate supplies almost 700 milligrams of potassium. Pomegranate is also high in vitamin K, offers a good amount of folate and is a good source of magnesium, copper, manganese and selenium. Like other fruits pomegranate contains high amounts of natural fruit sugars.

Oranges

Oranges, though not as power-packed as bananas, kiwi or pomegranate, are still a good source of minerals and vitamins. One orange contains 100% of the daily requirement for vitamin C. Like bananas, oranges contain high amounts of natural fruit sugars.

Wild Salmon

Not all salmon are created equal. Stay away from “farm raised” fish. Do the “wild thing”. Salmon contain large amounts of healthy fish oil (great for artery health), large amounts of potassium, selenium, magnesium, calcium and the B vitamin complex. Other cold water, oily fish such as mackerel and sardines provide similar beneficial amounts.

Wild salmon, almost any variety (Coho, Pink, Silver, Chinook, Atlantic), is a super food. Canned salmon, mackerel and sardines contain ALL the benefits of fresh and wild with the added value of increased calcium because you can eat the soft bones.

Don’t like fish and have high blood pressure? I suggest you learn to like fish real fast because fish oil supplements, though very beneficial, do not provide the nutrients the whole food, wild fish, contains. The same advice goes for those who do not care for fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes. Learn to love the above foods because your health depends upon them and they are foods that lower blood pressure.

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