Celery may be a helpful component of a diet to reduce your blood pressure. Raw or cooked celery as a vegetable and dried celery seed as a spice may both provide benefits for your blood pressure. Along with improving your diet, you may need to refrain from smoking, increase your exercise with your doctor's approval or take other measures to achieve a healthy blood pressure.
High blood pressure increases your risk for heart disease and stroke. The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH, diet may lower high blood pressure or prevent hypertension, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Each 1/2 cup of celery counts as one of the four or five recommended daily servings on a 2,000-calorie DASH diet. The DASH diet encourages the use of herbs and spices, such as celery seed.
Sodium Content
A high-sodium diet can cause hypertension or prevent you from reducing your high blood pressure. Celery can be part of a low-sodium diet to lower blood pressure because it has only 81 mg per cup. One tbsp. of celery seed has 10 mg sodium, and it makes a low-sodium alternative to salt for flavoring your food. Individuals with high blood pressure should not have more than 1,500 mg sodium per day, according to the 2010 Dietary Guidelines.
Potassium
Celery has 263 mg of potassium per cup, and celery seed has 91 mg. Potassium is an essential mineral for regulating your blood pressure, and most Americans do not get at least 4,700 mg per day, the recommended amount in the 2010 Dietary Guidelines. Other vegetables are good sources of potassium, and you can also get it from milk, yogurt, fruits, fish and beans.
Weight Control
If you are overweight or obese, you may be able to lower your blood pressure by losing a few pounds. Celery can help, because each cup supplies only 16 calories. Raw celery sticks make a low-calorie snack between meals or with a sack lunch. You can use cooked celery as a side dish or add it to soups, stews or casseroles to make your meals bigger without adding too many calories.
References
- University of Maryland; Celery Seed; Steven Ehrlich; November 2008
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010; January 2010
- Mayo Clinic; High Blood Pressure (Hypertension); March 2011
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Vegetables and Vegetable Products
- U.S. Department of Agriculture: Spices and Herbs
