The food we eat isn’t just beautiful to look at and delicious to eat. Many of the choices we make can impact our body in beneficial ways.
Click start to play today’s Spell It, where we find the ‘link’ between certain foods and the reduction of high blood pressure.
According to the National Institutes of Health, in 2019, 32 per cent of women and 34 per cent of men aged between 30 and 79 years, had hypertension. High blood pressure can lead to stroke, heart disease, and kidney failure. So, it’s vital to ensure our systolic blood pressure remains below 120, and our diastolic blood pressure below 80.
According to US-based Mayo Clinic, you can naturally reduce your blood pressure through lifestyle changes, like losing weight, decreasing sodium in your diet, exercising regularly, and reducing stress levels. But there are also certain foods that can help you naturally lower your blood pressure, according to an October 2023 report in the US-based psychology news website Psychology Today.
Here are a few that you could include in your diet:
1. Magnesium-rich foods
A 2018 study published in Advances in Chronic Kidney Disease, along with many others, have pointed out how important magnesium is, for effective kidney function and lower blood pressure levels. Magnesium helps the muscle fibres in our blood vessels to relax, reduces inflammation and plays an important role in the metabolism of insulin. Foods that are rich in magnesium include nuts and seeds, like almonds and cashews, leafy green vegetables like spinach and Swiss chard, legumes like beans and lentils, whole grains like oats, potatoes and sweet corn. You can also find it in yoghurt, dark chocolate and fruits like bananas and avocadoes.
2. Potassium-rich foods
Potassium is known to push excess sodium out of our bodies, and just like magnesium, allows muscle fibres in our blood vessels to relax. You can find it in fruits like bananas, oranges, raisins and prunes, vegetables like leafy greens, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, and broccoli, dairy products like milk, yoghurt and cheese, and in fish, nuts and seeds.
3. Zinc-rich foods
According to a 2020 study in the European Journal of Nutrition, zinc helps in the production of nitric oxide, which dilates blood vessels and helps reduce systolic blood pressure. It’s also an antioxidant. So, make room on your plate for zinc-rich foods like meat and poultry, seafood, nuts and seeds, legumes, dairy products and whole grains.
4. Foods rich in nitrates
In a 2016 study in the International Journal of Hypertension, researchers explained how nitrates transform into nitrites, which help in the production of nitric oxide, and then dilates blood vessels. The best way to include nitrates in your diet is through beetroots. A 2022 study in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition found that daily beetroot juice reduces systolic pressure drastically, in both men and women. Spinach, arugula, lettuce, chard and celery are other foods that are rich in nitrates.
Do you try to control your blood pressure level through food? Play today’s Spell It and tell us at games@gulfnews.com .
