If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, or hypertension, your doctor will probably request some adjustments in your lifestyle, such as getting more potassium and less sodium from your diet. Eating more vegetables can help you achieve these changes, if you make the right selection and preparation choices. Many vegetables are low in sodium and good sources of potassium. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, a stronger potassium-to-sodium ratio can lower blood pressure.
Mineral Balance and Blood Pressure
If you haven't received a high blood pressure diagnosis but know that your diet is out of balance, look more closely at your sodium and potassium intake. You should be getting more potassium--4,700mg--than sodium per day. Healthy people should take in less than 2,300mg of sodium, and people with hypertension less than 1,500mg of sodium. This helps your body achieve the fluid balance that these minerals influence, which bears on your blood pressure level. Generally, the greater your sodium intake is, the more fluid moves into the blood, and the greater your blood pressure will be. Increased potassium intake has the opposite effect.
Detrimental Vegetables
In 2011, sodium from salt is overconsumed in America due to the popularity of processed foods, which contain 75 percent of the total salt consumed. Salt is added to foods, including vegetables, for flavor, preservation and other effects that manufacturers want to achieve. Canned vegetables, tomato sauces, prepared beans-and-rice entrees and many frozen vegetable preparations contain large amounts of added salt. If you have or wish to prevent hypertension, choose reduced-sodium vegetables and vegetable soups, rinse canned vegetables to remove salt or avoid processed vegetables that have added salt.
Beneficial Vegetables
The Harvard School of Public Health suggests choosing vegetables with 300mg of sodium or less per serving. Fresh vegetables or those that are frozen without salt have naturally low sodium contents, such as the 20mg of sodium in 1 cup of cooked broccoli. Cooking without or with less salt and using herbs and spices or citrus for flavor will keep your vegetable servings healthful. The same goes for seasoning foods at the table. As you cut sodium, choose vegetables with high potassium frequently. These include potatoes, tomatoes, cooked spinach and cooked dry beans.
Significance
Eating vegetables that are low in sodium and high in potassium conveys the correct mineral ratio needed for normal blood pressure. That may be why consuming vegetables in significant amounts is known to reduce your risk for heart disease and stroke, two conditions that can stem from high blood pressure. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that an intake of 2-1/2 cups of vegetables per day can benefit your diet and your health in this manner.
