What you eat can really impact your circulatory health. Learn about the role of a healthy diet for better blood pressure.
By making healthy changes to your diet, you can manage your blood pressure and lower your risk for heart disease. You can talk to a dietitian who can help you set a blood pressure target and create a healthy diet plan. Moreover, you can follow established eating plans that are known to lower blood pressure levels like the DASH diet.
The DASH Diet
The Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet is a low-salt eating plan that helps lower blood pressure. It emphasizes important nutrients, fiber, potassium, calcium, and magnesium while lowering salt intake.
It works by limiting sodium intake to anywhere between 1,500 mg-2,300 mg per day at most. Additionally, it reduces saturated fats to a maximum of 6% of daily calories and total fat to 27%, with low-fat dairy products being especially beneficial for lowering systolic blood pressure.
As part of the plan, it’s recommended that you choose monounsaturated oils like olive and canola oil. You should also choose whole grains over white flour or pasta products and eat fresh fruits and vegetables every day.
Also, make sure you eat nuts, seeds, or legumes (like beans or peas) on a daily basis. When choosing protein, eat fish, skinless poultry, and soy products that total no more than 18% of your total daily calories.
Finally, the DASH diet limits carbohydrates to 55% of your daily calories and dietary cholesterol to 150 mg, while also focusing on consuming at least 30 grams of daily fiber. However, if you have kidney problems or take certain medications, talk to your healthcare provider before increasing your potassium intake.
Eating Heart-Healthy Food
When it comes to improving your blood pressure and heart health, you should focus on foods that are naturally low in fat. In general, this includes whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. There are other guidelines you can follow to make it easier to eat heart-healthy foods.
For example, you can read food labels, avoid or limit foods high in saturated fat, and choose lean proteins. You should also limit the amount of fried food, processed food, and commercially prepared baked goods you eat.
The Outlook
By eating healthy foods, you can make a huge difference in your blood pressure and overall heart health. Since high blood pressure is a significant risk factor for heart disease, it’s a good idea to manage your levels properly.
In addition to eating healthily, you can boost your blood pressure health by exercising regularly and taking supplements. For instance, you can take L-arginine Plus, a heart-health supplement that effectively promotes circulation, blood pressure health, cholesterol health, and more. If you’re serious about taking care of your heart, then follow a heart-healthy diet plan and take L-arginine Plus.