What we are talking about is including foods that benefit us and eliminating foods in our diet that aggravate our blood pressure condition.

The hardest thing in life is to CHANGE OLD HABITS and eating habits is one of the hardest things to change.

How to Change Habits

For most people changing habits is tough.

You actually have to start with your mindset change. You must determine the benefits a change will provide for you and then determine the HOW TO part.

There is one simple process you can use which is keeping it simple. What we mean is take one thing at a time, lets say you like sweets, but they aggravate your condition. Find a replacement food for just one type of sweet you now eat and work with that.

It may take months for you to make the change, but once finished your old habit will be replaced with the new one.

This is not the QUICK FIX everyone wants, but it is a more permanent change process. Focus on one food at a time until you made it a permanent change.

Foods to Lower Blood Pressure

• Bananas: High in potassium and fiber, the banana is convenient, tasty, inexpensive, and with a little imagination can make a sinfully delicious dessert.

• Tomatoes: Another source of potassium and also of calcium. The tomato has a powerful antioxidant called lycopene that can also help prevent heart disease. Lycopene prevent LDL cholesterol from oxidizing and sticking to the blood vessels. Fresh is best. If you get your tomato through juice, make sure it’s pure and does not contain additives and salt. If you’re into pasta, try making your own sauce. It can be fun and the house will smell wonderful as you are making it.

• Blueberries and Blackberries: Both are packed with powerful antioxidants and are another source of dietary fiber.

• Garlic: Garlic is one of those miracle foods that has been used medicinally for over a thousand years. It has the capacity to thin the blood thereby making it easier for the heart to pump. It has also been suggested that garlic is a defense against certain digestive cancers including colon cancer.

• Cold Water Fish: Salmon, sardines, halibut, tuna and mackerel are great sources of Omega-3. Try to replace a red meat meal two or three time per week with one of these fish.

• Dark Chocolate and Cocoa:  Yes there is some fat and sugar in there but there is also some very powerful antioxidants. More importantly, if you are going to change your diet you still need to have some kind of reward food for sticking to it. Combine that dark chocolate with baked bananas and you have a very tasty dessert.

• Water: Okay you may not think of water as a food but it is essential not only to your blood pressure but to your entire body.  Dehydration is becoming a bigger health issue than it was before. As a rule, you should drink half your body weight in ounces daily. So if you weigh 150 pounds, you should drink 75 ounces of water or about 4 standard bottles a day.
• Extra-Virgin Olive Oil: High in oleic acid and polyphenols, an antioxidant.

Other Tips

Try not to microwave to many foods.

When you are working on a diet change and are switching to natural foods, you want to preserve as much nutrition in the food as possible, microwaving reduces nutrients from food.

Eating Out – When going to restaurants request less salt and sauces that can aggravate your blood pressure. This way you can enjoy dining out and still stay on the path to better health.

Stress – Staying away from situations that creates stress for you is another way to keep your blood pressure down. Stress can drive your blood pressure through the roof, find ways to reduce stress.

Don’t try to change everything at once, in most cases you will fail. Make the easiest changes first and work your way up the ladder, start with your diet – take another look at the foods listed above to lower blood pressure – keep a positive outlook.

Related Posts

• No Related Post