If you add salt to food yourself this pushes your sodium intake even higher.Ī review of studies involving 3,230 people showed that reducing salt intakes by 4.4 grams a day could reduce systolic blood pressure by about 4.2 mmHg and diastolic by 2.1 mmHg. High salt intakes are associated with higher blood pressure.Īdults need between 1.2 to 2.4g of salt each day (one-quarter to a half teaspoon), which is equivalent to 460 to 920mg of sodium.īut in Australia seven out of ten men and three in ten women eat way more than that – and much more than the upper recommended limit of 5.9 grams of salt (about one teaspoon) or 2,300 mg of sodium per day. Salt or sodium chloride has been used to preserve foods and as a flavour enhancer for centuries. What to avoid to lower your blood pressure Salt One advantage of getting more vitamin C from eating more vegetables and fruit is that you boost your potassium intake, which helps counter the effects of sodium from salt. Excess vitamin C is excreted via the kidneys and can contribute to the formation of kidney stones. However, those at risk of kidney stones need to be cautious about taking vitamin C supplements. When only those with existing high blood pressure were considered, the drop in systolic blood pressure was 4.85 mmHg. In a review of 29 short-term trials of vitamin C supplements, people were given 500 mg of vitamin C per day for about eight weeks.īlood pressure significantly improved, with an average reduction in systolic blood pressure of 3.84 mmHg and 1.48 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure. An average serve contains 10-40mg of vitamin C. Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is found in fresh vegetables and fruit. Try wrapping whole fresh beetroot in foil and baking in the oven until soft, or grate beetroot and stir-fry with red onion and curry paste and eat as a relish. The men were randomly assigned to drink 250ml (one cup) of beetroot juice daily for four weeks or a non-active placebo.īlood pressure in the men who drank the beetroot juice reduced over 24 hours, with systolic blood pressure 7.7 mmHg lower and diastolic blood pressure 5.2 mmHg lower.
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However a recent trial in 68 adults who already had high blood pressure found beetroot juice reduced systolic and diastolic blood pressure. But it found no change in diastolic blood pressure. This directly lowers the pressure in them.Ī review of 16 trials of mostly healthy young men found drinking beetroot juice was associated with a 4.4 mmHg reduction in systolic blood pressure. During digestion, this gets converted into nitric oxide, which causes arteries to dilate. Beetrootīeetroot is extremely rich in a compound called inorganic nitrate. To improve your blood pressure, eat rolled oats or oat bran for breakfast, add to meat patties, or mix with breadcrumbs in recipes that call for crumbing.
These work directly to lower blood pressure. While some of fibre’s effect is due to weight loss, soluble fibres produce bioactive products when they’re fermented in the large bowel. Recommended minimum daily adult fibre intakes are 30 grams for men and 25 grams for women. This quantity of oats or oat bran contains around four grams of a type of fibre called beta-glucan.įor each extra one gram of total daily fibre, there was an extra 0.11 mmHg reduction in diastolic blood pressure. The researchers found that systolic blood pressure was 2.7 mmHg lower and diastolic blood pressure was 1.5 mmHg lower when participants ate around 60 grams of rolled oats (a packed half-cup raw oats) or 25 grams of oat bran per day. What to eat to lower your blood pressure Rolled oatsĪ review with five research trials included tested the impact of oats on systolic blood pressure (the first blood pressure number, which is the pressure at which the heart pumps blood) and diastolic blood pressure (the second number, which is when the heart relaxes) in about 400 healthy adults. Lowering it by 1-2 mmHg can have a big impact on reducing your risk of heart disease and stroke, and the nation’s health care costs. Optimal blood pressure is 120 mmHg or less over 80 mmHg or less. So does avoiding salt, liquorice, caffeine and alcohol.
Eating oats, fruit and vegetables – and beetroot, in particular – helps. High blood pressure can be treated or prevented. No wonder heart disease and stroke directly cost the Australian economy A$7.7 billion a year. Of those, four million have high blood pressure that isn’t treated or under control. Six million Australian adults (34%) have high blood pressure – 140/90 millimetres of mercury (mmHg) or more – or take medications for it. Having high blood pressure (hypertension) increases your risk of heart disease, stroke, heart failure and kidney disease. High blood pressure is called the silent killer. Authors: Professor Clare Collins, Associate Professor Tracy Burrows and Dr Tracy Schumacher
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