If you're among the one in three Americans diagnosed with high blood pressure, your doctor probably recommended you change your diet to help get your numbers under control. Adjusting your diet to include more natural foods--minimally processed foods that do not contain refined sugars or flours--is a good start. These foods, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, not only have the ability to lower your blood pressure, but they also will help wean you off heavily processed fare containing ingredients that cause hypertension.
Significance
The U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recommends the DASH eating plan--Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension--to lower blood pressure. The plan emphasizes increasing servings of natural foods, particularly fruits, vegetables and grains, while cutting back on processed foods and sweets. Replacing canned soups, frozen meals and lunch meats with natural foods will greatly lower your sodium intake, the main culprit in elevating your blood pressure. At the same time, eating fresh fruits and vegetables will increase your potassium intake, which helps lower blood pressure.
Considerations
To meet DASH requirements, you'll need to include four or five daily servings of fruits and vegetables. A single piece of fresh fruit, a cup of raw vegetables or a half cup of cooked vegetables constitutes a serving. You also can look for natural fruit and vegetable juices, making sure to check labels to see that excessive sugar or corn syrup is not added. Six ounces of juice also equals a single serving. Leave processed meat products behind and start buying fresh fish, though limit yourself to about two 3-ounce servings per day. Also stock up on fresh seeds, nuts--avoiding heavily salted varieties--and beans. You should eat four to five servings of these per week.
Types
You'll find a few types of foods are particularly handy in reducing hypertension. Winter squash, pistachios, unsalted peanuts, cantaloupe, raisins, bananas and avocados all have high levels of potassium per serving and will help lower blood pressure, according to Colorado State University. Sally Barclay of Iowa State University also recommends adding cucumbers to your salads. Though cucumbers are not particularly high in nutrients compared with other vegetables, their high water content helps control sodium levels. Fresh herbs and spices, such as parsley, ginger and basil, also are valuable. Using these ingredients gives your food a tasty flavor without leaving you reaching for the saltshaker.
Benefits
Two U.S. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute studies confirmed the blood pressure-lowering capabilities of a natural-food diet. One study compared the blood pressure of people who ate a typical American diet, a typical American diet plus more fruits and vegetables and a strictly followed DASH plan. Simply adding fruits and vegetables lowered blood pressure even to those on a typical diet, while those who followed the DASH plan saw results in as little as two weeks. The second study compared the effects of reducing sodium while following the DASH plan. Those who avoided sodium from processed foods saw the most dramatic reductions in blood pressure.
Warning
Despite the benefits, ease natural foods into your diet rather than making a dramatic change. Eating natural foods will add more fiber to your diet, which can cause diarrhea or bloating if you add too much too fast, so make it a gradual process. Also, diet alone might not be enough to lower blood pressure. Get at least 30 minutes of daily exercise, and if you've been prescribed blood pressure medication, continue taking it even as you add natural foods to your diet.
