If you are one of the 74.5 million Americans with high blood pressure, or hypertension, you have a higher risk for heart disease, kidney disease and stroke. Black-eyed peas, also called cowpeas, may provide benefits as part of a healthy diet to lower your blood pressure. A variety of dietary and other factors affects your blood pressure, so continue to follow your doctor's advice for managing your condition.
DASH Diet
You may be able to lower your blood pressure by eating a balanced diet, and the dietary approaches to stop hypertension diet may be an effective pattern to follow, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The DASH diet limits sugars and saturated fat while emphasizing fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, healthy fats and low-fat dairy products. A 2,000-calorie DASH diet includes four servings per week of nuts, seeds or legumes, including black-eyed peas. A half-cup of cooked peas counts as a serving.
Sodium
Black-eyed peas are nearly sodium-free, with only 3 mg of sodium in a half-cup of peas cooked in water. A high-sodium diet can cause high blood pressure or prevent you from lowering high blood pressure, and healthy adults should have no more than 2,300 mg of sodium per day. If you already have high blood pressure, are at least 51 years old or are African-American, the recommendation is to limit sodium intake to 1,500 mg per day, according to the aforementioned dietary guidelines. A cup of black-eyed peas cooked with salt provides 205 mg of sodium.
Essential Nutrients
A diet with at least 4,700 mg of potassium per day may help lower your blood pressure, and a half-cup of black-eyed peas provides 238 mg. Magnesium is another essential mineral for regulating blood pressure, according to the Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center. Black-eyed peas have 45 mg of magnesium, or 11 percent of the daily value. They also have 5.6 g of dietary fiber, or 22 percent of the daily value, and a high-fiber diet can lower your blood pressure.
Weight Control
A half-cup of cooked black-eyed peas contains only 99 calories, and it can be part of a low-calorie diet to prevent weight gain. If you are overweight, losing weight can help lower your blood pressure. Other than dietary fiber, another filling nutrient found in black-eyed peas is protein. Each half-cup of cooked cowpeas provides 6.6 g of protein, which slows down the emptying of food from your stomach after a meal, so that you feel full for longer afterward, according to the Harvard School of Public Health.
References
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010; January 2010
- Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center; Dietary Fiber; Jane Higdon; December 2005
- Harvard School of Public Health: Protein: Moving Closer to Center Stage
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Legumes and Legume Products
- Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center; Magnesium; Jane Higdon; April 2003
