You'd never know you have it without having your blood pressure measured - or until high blood pressure begins to damage vital organs. Hypertension is the ultimate stealth condition. They also help prevent some of the feared consequences of high blood pressure. Rigorous trials show that eating strategies such as the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet, DASH variants like the OmniHeart diet, and Mediterranean-type diets lower blood pressure in people with hypertension (high blood pressure) and those headed in that direction.
Instead, it's the foundation for an all-around healthful eating strategy that is good for blood pressure and so much more. There isn't a single 'magic' food in this list. Fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy foods, beans, nuts, whole-grain carbohydrates, and unsaturated fats also have healthful effects on blood pressure. But there is far more to a blood pressure–friendly diet than minimizing salt intake. Yet food can have a direct and sometimes dramatic effect on blood pressure. Changing your diet to control blood pressure doesn't seem quite so straightforward. After all, some of the cholesterol that ends up in arteries starts out in food. 10 tips for using diet to control blood pressure.įiddling with diet to control cholesterol makes perfect sense.
