Following a heart-healthy diet may help lower your blood pressure. Eating foods with nutrients like potassium and magnesium may be especially helpful.
More than 1 billion people worldwide suffer from high blood pressure, which is characterized by systolic blood pressure (the top number) of 130 mm Hg or higher, diastolic blood pressure (the bottom number) exceeding 80 mm Hg, or both (2Trusted Source).
Making some changes to your daily habits and what you eat can bring down your blood pressure and make it less likely for you to have heart problems. Sometimes, doctors might give you special medicines like ACE inhibitors to help lower your blood pressure.
Eating certain foods, particularly those rich in potassium and magnesium, can potentially reduce your blood pressure.
Discover 17 Top Foods to Help Lower High Blood Pressure.
1.Citrus fruit
Citrus fruits, packed with vitamins, minerals, and plant compounds, might assist in reducing high blood pressure and promoting heart health.
Examples of citrus fruits are:
- grapefruit
- oranges
- lemons
A study from 2021 looked at the information from the past decade about eating fruit and controlling high blood pressure. The study discovered that eating around 530 to 600 grams of fruit daily (which is about four oranges) can help manage blood pressure. In particular, citrus fruits were found to be linked with a reduced risk of high blood pressure.
Lowering your blood pressure might be possible by drinking orange and grapefruit juice. However, it’s important to note that grapefruit and its juice could potentially interact with common blood pressure medications. So, it’s wise to seek advice from a healthcare professional before incorporating these fruits into your diet.
- Salmon and other fatty fish
Fatty fish are great for your heart because they have a special type of fat called omega-3. Omega-3 fats can help your heart by lowering inflammation and possibly reducing high blood pressure.
In a 2022 study, researchers investigated the relationship between omega-3 fats, sourced from diet or supplements, and blood pressure. This study involved 71 research studies and data from 4,973 individuals. The key finding was that the most significant reduction in blood pressure occurred when people consumed a daily amount of approximately 2 to 3 grams of omega-3 fats, which is roughly equivalent to the amount found in a 3.5-ounce serving of salmon.
Eating more omega-3 fats, like those found in fish, might reduce the chances of young adults, who don’t have a history of heart disease or diabetes, developing high blood pressure.
- Leafy greens
Swiss chard and spinach are two leafy greens that could help reduce high blood pressure.
Swiss chard provides essential nutrients like potassium and magnesium, promoting healthy blood pressure. One cup supplies 20% of your daily potassium and 36% of magnesium needs.
In a 2022 study, researchers discovered that for women with elevated dietary sodium intake, each additional gram of daily dietary potassium was associated with a reduction of 2.4 mm Hg in systolic blood pressure (SBP).
Spinach is a leafy green packed with nitrate, a plant compound that can help lower blood pressure. It’s also rich in antioxidants, potassium, calcium, and magnesium, all of which promote heart health.
A small, older study with 27 people showed that when they ate a lot of spinach soup with nitrates (like a special kind of healthy stuff) every day for a week, their blood pressure went down. But the people who ate asparagus soup with less of this healthy stuff didn’t see the same drop in blood pressure.
Recent clinical studies have not found strong evidence that eating leafy greens high in nitrates can consistently lower blood pressure. However, more research is required to fully understand these findings.
- Nuts and seeds
Nuts and seeds can help lower blood pressure. Here are some great options to include in a blood-pressure-friendly diet:
- Pumpkin seeds
- Flaxseed
- Chia seeds
- Pistachios
- Walnuts
- Almonds
Nuts and seeds are packed with nutrients that help control blood pressure. They contain things like fiber and arginine. Arginine is a special amino acid that our bodies use to make something called nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is important because it helps our blood vessels relax, which can lower our blood pressure.
Clinical studies have mixed findings on whether eating nuts or seeds can lower blood pressure, despite some research suggesting a positive links.
Scientists think that the mixed findings might be because studies on nuts or seeds and their impact on blood pressure might not last long enough to see if they actually help lower blood pressure.
- Legumes
Legumes, like beans and lentils, have lots of good stuff in them that can help keep your blood pressure in check, like magnesium and potassium. Many studies where people just watched and learned show that eating legumes might lower high blood pressure.
Legumes include:
In 2023, researchers looked at 16 clinical studies and couldn’t find a connection between eating legumes and reducing high blood pressure. They think that doing bigger and longer studies might help us understand how legumes affect blood pressure in other research.
- Amaranth
Consuming whole grains such as amaranth might reduce your blood pressure. Research indicates that including more whole grains in your diet can lower your chances of high blood pressure. If you’re not a fan of amaranth, you can also consider these other whole grains:
- Whole oats
- Quinoa
- Brown rice
- Corn
- Whole grain bread
- Whole wheat pasta
A study looked at 28 different research papers. It discovered that when people ate 30 more grams of whole grains every day, their risk of high blood pressure went down by 8%.
Amaranth is a magnesium-rich whole grain. Just one cup (246 grams) cooked supplies 38% of your daily magnesium requirement.
- Berries
Berries are really good for your health and can help lower the risk of heart problems like high blood pressure. They’re packed with antioxidants, like anthocyanins, which are what make them colorful and super healthy.
Anthocyanins are natural compounds that might make your blood vessels work better by increasing nitric oxide and lowering the stuff that slows down blood flow. This could potentially help bring down high blood pressure, but we still need to do more studies on people to be sure.
Here are some berries that could help lower blood pressure:
- Blueberries
- Raspberries
- Chokeberries
- Strawberries
- Grapes
- Cranberries
A 2020 review of clinical studies found various types of berries, including whole, freeze-dried, or juice forms, reduced SBP by over 3 mm Hg. The strongest effect on SBP in this study was for cranberry juice.
- Olive oil
Olive oil, made from olive tree fruit, can improve heart health by reducing blood pressure and lowering heart disease risks.
A 2020 analysis of research discovered that olive oil, thanks to its healthy components like oleic acid, which is a good kind of fat, and antioxidants called polyphenols, can be good for you if you want to eat in a way that helps lower your blood pressure.
- Carrots
Carrots are a popular vegetable that is both delicious and good for you. They’re filled with natural substances that might help with things like keeping your blood pressure in check.
In a study conducted in 2023, it was discovered that consuming approximately 100 grams of grated raw carrots daily (equivalent to about 1 cup) resulted in a 10% decrease in the likelihood of developing high blood pressure.
- Eggs
Eggs are packed with nutrients, and studies show they can help maintain healthy blood pressure when included in a balanced diet.
A study in 2023 looked at 2,349 grown-ups in the United States. They discovered that folks who ate five or more eggs each week had slightly lower blood pressure by 2.5 points compared to those who ate less than half an egg each week. People who liked eggs also had a lower chance of getting high blood pressure in the long run.
Eating eggs doesn’t seem to be connected to other things that might give you heart problems, like high cholesterol, as long as you’re healthy. The latest research suggests that it’s probably okay for most healthy adults to eat up to 3 eggs a day.
- Tomatoes and tomato products
Tomatoes and tomato-based foods are packed with good stuff like potassium and lycopene, which is a colorful nutrient.
Lycopene has garnered substantial attention for its potential to positively impact cardiovascular health, with consumption of foods rich in this nutrient potentially contributing to the mitigation of risk factors associated with heart disease, such as elevated blood pressure.
A review of 21 studies found that eating tomatoes and tomato-based foods can lower your blood pressure and might lower your risk of heart problems and heart-related deaths.
Other research has found mixed results when it comes to how eating tomatoes affects blood pressure, so we might need more scientific studies to get a clearer picture.
- Broccoli
Broccoli is good for your heart. Eating this green vegetable can help lower your blood pressure.
Broccoli is packed with special substances called flavonoids that act like super helpers in your body. They can make your blood vessels work better and boost nitric oxide levels, which might lower your blood pressure.
A study with information from 187,453 people discovered that folks who ate broccoli four or more times each week were less likely to have high blood pressure compared to those who only ate broccoli once a month or even less frequently.
13.Yogurt
Yogurt is a healthy dairy food rich in minerals like potassium and calcium, which can help control blood pressure.
A study that looked at 28 different research papers discovered that if people have three servings of dairy products each day, they are 13% less likely to have high blood pressure. Additionally, for every extra 7 ounces (about 200 grams) of dairy they eat in a day, their risk of high blood pressure goes down by 5%.
A 2021 study also showed that among people with high blood pressure, having a serving of yogurt per day was linked with lower SBP levels. No effects were found for people with blood pressure in the typical levels.
The scientists propose that if you eat more yogurt each day, like going from having it 2-4 times a week to 5-6 times a week, it could help lower your blood pressure by around 1.44 mm Hg. This might be good news for people dealing with high blood pressure.
- Herbs and spices
Some herbs and spices have special ingredients that can make your blood vessels relax, which might lower your blood pressure.
Research suggests that certain herbs and spices might help reduce high blood pressure in both animals and humans. These include:
- Celery seed
- Cilantro
- Saffron
- Lemongrass
- Black pepper
- Garlic
- Onion powder
- Chili powder
- Oregano
- Cumin
- Red
- pepper
- Ginseng
- Cinnamon
- Cardamom
- Basil
- Ginger
In a study from 2021, researchers looked at 71 people who were at risk of heart problems. They wanted to see if adding a mix of 24 different herbs and spices to their food every day, about 1.3 teaspoons in total, could help lower their blood pressure. They found that after 4 weeks, those who used this amount of herbs and spices had lower blood pressure compared to those who used less, like 0.5 grams or 3.3 grams per day.
- Potatoes
Potatoes contain natural substances that might help control blood pressure.
A medium-sized baked potato with the skin has 941 milligrams of potassium. That’s about 20% of the potassium you need in a day, and even more than what you get from a medium-sized banana.
In 2021, researchers conducted a study with 30 adults who were either at risk for high blood pressure or already had it. They gave these participants four different diets to follow for 17 days. One of these diets included eating potatoes (boiled, baked, or pan-heated) to get 1,000 milligrams of potassium.
At the end of the study, the researchers found that including potatoes in a healthy diet with about 3,300 milligrams of potassium per day lowered blood pressure.
- Kiwifruit
Kiwifruit has lots of vitamin C and also has things like fiber, potassium, and magnesium that help control blood pressure.
Kiwifruit contains natural substances called plant-based polyphenols and antioxidants. Scientists think eating kiwifruit might be good for your heart by helping to reduce things that can cause heart problems, like high blood pressure.
In a 2022 study in New Zealand, 43 healthy Asian adults discovered that having two kiwis for breakfast every day for 7 weeks led to a 2.7 mm Hg drop in their systolic blood pressure (SBP) compared to those who didn’t eat kiwifruit.
We might need to study more people for a longer time to be sure if eating kiwi can really help reduce high blood pressure.
- Lean meats
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) says that lean meat is meat that has very little fat – less than 10 grams of fat, very little bad fat (called saturated fat) – 4.5 grams or less, and not too much cholesterol – less than 95 milligrams, in every 100 grams of meat. That’s about the size of a small hamburger patty.
Lean animal proteins are meats like chicken breast without skin, beef sirloin, pork tenderloin, and 93% lean ground turkey. These foods are packed with excellent protein and essential nutrients that help control blood pressure.
In a previous study, they tested how pork can affect the blood pressure of older adults with high blood pressure. Instead of chicken or fish, they added lean pork to a special diet designed to reduce high blood pressure called DASH. After 6 weeks, they found that the blood pressure of those who ate pork went down just like those who followed the regular DASH diet.
A study conducted by Chinese scientists suggests that if you eat a mix of different types of proteins, you’re less likely to get high blood pressure. They looked at eight protein sources, like fresh meat and chicken, and found that people who ate at least four different types of proteins had a 66% lower risk of getting high blood pressure.
Lean meats can be a healthy choice for lowering blood pressure as long as they fit your taste, budget, and cultural food preferences.
