Factors that increase your risk of suffering a heart attack or stroke include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, family or personal history of heart disease, medical conditions such as diabetes, and lifestyle choices such as smoking, drinking alcohol to excess and not exercising frequently. You can adopt similar measures to lower both cholesterol and blood pressure.
Link Between Cholesterol and Blood Pressure
High cholesterol creates deposits of plaque along the walls of your arteries. This narrows your arteries, making it more difficult for blood to pass through them and carry oxygen to your heart and other organs. When your blood doesn't flow freely, your heart works harder to transport your blood, increasing your blood pressure. So, if you lower your cholesterol, you create a freer path for blood to travel in your body. Lowering your blood pressure can also help reduce your cholesterol. High blood pressure damages the walls of your arteries and forms scar tissues. The scar tissue creates a trap for cholesterol. Because of this link between cholesterol and blood pressure, taking steps to improve either your cholesterol or blood pressure usually improves both.
Heart-friendly Numbers
You can follow a heart-friendly diet to lower your cholesterol and blood pressure. A diet that includes less fat -- especially saturated fat and trans fat -- and sugar can help lower your cholesterol. Adding fiber to your diet can improve both your cholesterol and your blood pressure. Many high-fiber foods include potassium, a nutrient that can lower blood pressure by offsetting the effects of sodium in your diet. MayoClinic.com recommends you include no more than 44 to 78 g of all types of fat in your daily diet and that you restrict saturated fat to between 16 and 22 g and trans fat to 2 g. The American Dietetic Association suggests that women include 26 g and men 38 g of fiber in the diets each day and that all adults consume 4,700 mg of potassium.
Healthy Protein Choices
Protein and cooking oils provide the main sources of saturated and trans fat. Fatty beef -- porterhouse steak, for instance -- contains a lot more saturated fat than grilled tuna, halibut or skinless chicken. Most vegetable protein, including beans and tofu, contain little or no saturated fat. Other cholesterol-conscious sources of protein include low-fat and non-fat dairy, soy beans, ham and water-packed tuna. Margarine and shortening contain trans fat. Reduce your consumption by switching to olive oil for sauteing foods and avoiding commercial baked goods.
Add Fiber to Your Diet
Plant foods provide fiber. One cup of black beans, for instance, provides more than half a woman's daily need for fiber. Many plant foods -- sweet potatoes, bananas, and spinach, for example -- also provide high amounts of potassium. Include more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes in your diet. Some particularly good sources of fiber include oatmeal, wheat bran, citrus fruits, fruits with edible skins or seeds, leafy greens such as kale and collards and whole-grain bread, rice and pasta.
References
- American Heart Association; About High Blood Pressure; April 13, 2011
- American Dietetic Association; Health Implications of Dietary Fiber; 2008
- American Dietetic Association; Potassium Power; Joan Salge Blake; Aug. 1, 2010
- Mayo Clinic: Healthy Diet: End the Guesswork with These Nutrition Guidelines; Feb. 22, 2011
- University of California San Francisco; Cholesterol Content of Foods; Feb. 2, 2011
- MayoClinic.com: Nutrition and Healthy Eating -- High-Fiber Foods; 2009
