Eat Your Way to Healthy Blood Pressure

The third part of our 'Essential Guide to Healthy Blood Pressure' looks at how your food routine can play a crucial role in lowering or stabilising blood pressure.

You can read part 1 of the series here

Part 2 is here

Let's start with simple guidelines that anyone can follow and that will really help regulate blood pressure. 

Eat regularly

A calm internal environment will keep your system running smoothly and reduce the likelihood of physical stress which can in turn aggravate mental stress, both of which will increase blood pressure.  Plan to eat a meal or snack every 3-4 hours.

Get your 5-a-day

You’ve heard it many times and here’s just another reason to make it happen.  Fruit and vegetables supply us with vitamins, minerals and nutrients that will improve the strength, immunity and efficiency of the body.  Eating plenty of fresh stuff also leaves less of an appetite for the meals and snacks that rob us of energy, increase stress and aggravate blood pressure.

And forget aiming for 5-a-day as that often means you end up with 2 or 3.  Plan for at least 8 and you’ll make sure you end up with 5 without doubt.  

If this all sounds like a challenge here are some suggestions for how to eat regularly and healthily.

Breakfast

Porridge with bananas, blueberries, chia seeds & strawberries or omelette with tomato and peppers

Morning snack

Orange and walnuts or carrots, cucumber and hummus

Lunch

Wholemeal wrap with turkey, spinach and peppers or fish with rocket, tomatoes, avocado and pineapple

Afternoon snack

Apple and oatcakes or banana and rice cakes

Evening meal

Chicken with noodles, onion,mushrooms, peppers and garlic, or fish with brown rice and steamed broccoli and green beans

How to make it work...

Obviously, each person’s food routine needs to be appropriate for their schedule, tastes, objectives, and ideas have to be practical, but following these guidelines will help keep blood pressure optimum as well as improving the chances of a productive week with high energy and great sleep.  Even the busiest of individuals should be able to try some of these suggestions over the coming days.

Here are a few additional foods that you should aim to include in your routine through the week:

Kale, sweet potato, edamame, beetroot, spinach, sunflower seeds, kidney beans, mango, tuna, wholemeal pasta

We're running this series of blogs to help equip individuals with the knowledge they need to take responsibility for their health and make informed lifestyle choices.  If you find the information useful please share it with your colleagues.