How To Reduce High Blood Pressure Fast By Eating 9 Power Vegetables!

How to reduce high blood pressure fast by eating nine power vegetables! Now, high blood pressure or hypertension is a leading cause of heart disease, strokes, and kidney failure. And according to the CDC, nearly half of all adults in the United States have high blood pressure, yet only one out of four has it under control. So how do you know if I'm talking to you?

How Do You Know If You Have High Blood Pressure?

Well, if that top number on your blood pressure reading that systolic blood pressure is 130 or greater, or if that bottom number, the diastolic blood pressure is 80 or greater then I'm talking to you, you have hypertension. But have no fear because there are ways that you can lower your blood pressure with lifestyle modifications like exercise and eating properly. And today we're going to focus on the diet because I'm going to talk to you about how to reduce your high blood pressure quickly by eating nine power vegetables.

Be sure to download your copy of my book. It's called "Under Pressure: A Guide To Controlling High Blood Pressure " It's your step-by-step guide on how to control high blood pressure. This book is packed with valuable tools, guidelines, and information to help you to control high blood pressure. Click here to get your copy today.

 

How To Reduce High Blood Pressure with 9 Power Vegetables!

I'm Dr. Frita. I am a board-certified nephrologist, which means that I am a kidney and high blood pressure specialist. Now with all things health, you want to make sure that you consult your own physician, and talk to your doctor about your risk factors for high blood pressure. Talk to your doctor about the various treatment options for high blood pressure. But here's some information, some food for thought literally on how you can eat 9 power vegetables which can certainly help to reduce your blood pressure.

1. Spinach

Let me tell you, spinach is seriously a power-packed vegetable and it can help you to reduce your blood pressure quickly. Spinach has vitamin C which is something that helps to enhance your immune system. The vitamin C helps to increase your white blood cell production and it decreases the duration of respiratory illnesses. That's a whole nother benefit.

Spinach also has folate, it has beta-carotene, antioxidant properties, and nitrates which can help to lower your blood pressure and it is high in potassium. When you take in high amounts of potassium, it helps you to get rid of sodium or salt, which you know that too much salt is bad for your blood pressure. And so the high potassium in the spinach is one of the things that's really good for your blood pressure in addition to the nitrates.

Now remember, hypo potassium is not for everyone because if your doctor has put you on a potassium restriction due to hyperkalemia or high potassium, then you don't necessarily want to have excessive amounts of spinach. Make sure that you consult with your physician and your dietician. But here's the thing, for most people who are able to process potassium normally, having about 4.7 grams of potassium in the diet a day is a really great way to lower that blood pressure.

Be sure to watch my video on high-potassium foods that help to lower blood pressure after you finish reading this article.

How To Incorporate Spinach Into Your Diet

There are all kinds of ways to incorporate spinach into your diet. One thing that I like to do is to put spinach in my smoothies. You can put the spinach in smoothies even if you don't love the taste of spinach and add really sweet fruits in there like raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and other fruits that also help with antioxidants and help with inflammation.

You can also just make a spinach salad, and you can incorporate other things in your salad. Use a nice light healthy dressing. You can put carrots in the salad, boiled eggs if you like, or just legumes, or beans in the salad.  You can even make spinach chips and eat those instead of potato chips.  If you do omelets in the morning that has great protein plus you get the blood pressure-reducing qualities of spinach by adding a bit to your omelet. Hummus is another great way to incorporate spinach into your diet because you can blend the spinach into the hummus.

2. Kale

Kale has nitrates, which again, help to dilate blood vessels and they can help to lower your blood pressure. Kale also contains glucosinolates. So what are glucosinolates? These are sulfur-containing compounds found in cruciferous vegetables. So when I talk about cruciferous vegetables these vegetables include broccoli, cabbage, kale, collared greens, and Brussels sprouts, and the glucosinolates have antioxidants. So they have these properties that fight oxidative stress, and inflammation, and in general, kale helps to reduce your blood pressure. So you definitely want to incorporate it into your diet. But how?

How To Incorporate Kale Into Your Diet

I like kale salads. I'll load my salad up with all kinds of healthy fruits and vegetables and beans and enjoy the kale that way with the low-calorie dressing. You can also make kale chips again, lightly season them. You can use olive oil and put the kale in the air fryer if you like, and that way if you have that kind of crunchy desire for a snack you can do kale chips as opposed to potato chips.

You can also put kale in smoothies. Listen, don't knock it till you try it again. You mix the smoothies with other, sweet vegetables or sweet fruits and you're able to get a really nice delicious flavor while still getting the blood pressure-reducing properties of kale.

3. Beets

Yes, honey beets, this big old root vegetable is a power vegetable! Beets are loaded with nitric oxide which is a compound that we actually make in our bodies naturally and it helps to lower blood pressure. Nitric oxide helps to dilate blood vessels, it helps the blood vessels to get wider, and it helps to increase vascular flow and that's a way to lower blood pressure.

What Are Some Ways To Include Beets In Your Diet?

So how do you eat this thing? There are all kinds of ways to include beets in your diet. You can cook the beet and just eat it as a side dish and lightly season it. Or you can even cut the beet up and put it in your salad. And you can imagine, another one of these power vegetable salads where it's loaded with power vegetables.

Another thing that you can do to get beets into your diet to help lower your blood pressure, you can drink beet juice. Just make sure that it's an all-natural beet juice with no sugar added.

4. Carrots

I love carrots. This is another powerful vegetable that can help to reduce your blood pressure quickly. Carrots are loaded with fiber, potassium, antioxidants, and beta-carotene.  The fiber in carrots can be helpful because when you have diets that are high in fiber that can help you to reduce your cholesterol naturally. Lowering cholesterol levels can have multiple benefits for heart health, such as reducing inflammation, preventing the formation of plaques, and promoting healthy blood vessels. Carrots are also rich in potassium, which can aid in reducing blood pressure by promoting the excretion of sodium through urine.

How Can You Include Carrots Into Your Diet?

I must admit, I like raw carrots, especially when dipped in a low-calorie sauce that is free of added sugar. If you prefer cooked carrots, you can slice them diagonally into narrow pieces and spread them on a baking sheet. Lightly season them with black pepper and olive oil, then bake at 350°F for an hour to create a side dish. However, it's important not to overcook the carrots since this can destroy their beneficial properties that aid in reducing blood pressure.

You can also add carrots to your salad. Again, raw carrots will be even better. Raw or likely cooked carrots will give you the best benefits. Oh, and you can do smoothies. I like doing a carrot ginger smoothie. That's good every time. Be sure to watch my video on how to lower your cholesterol naturally, after you finish reading this article.

5. Garlic

I'll tell you right now, garlic is one of my favorite power vegetables for many reasons, and yes, it also can help to reduce blood pressure. Garlic is a part of the Lilly family and it has a substance in it called Allison. Garlic can actually help to lower your blood pressure by softening the blood vessels. It reduces the stiffness in the blood vessels which allows them to dilate, have increased vascular flow and it helps lower your blood pressure.

Garlic also happens to have some antimicrobial compounds,  so it can help to boost your immune system or enhance your immune system. The other neat thing about garlic is the amount of electrolytes it has that can help you with your blood pressure. So just one clove of garlic and I'm not talking about a whole big piece of garlic but just one little clove of garlic has five milligrams of calcium and 12 milligrams of potassium.  And remember, a high-potassium diet can help to lower your blood pressure, but I can't emphasize enough that a high-potassium diet is not for everyone.

If you have potassium restrictions, you'll find out by seeing your doctor regularly. For example, if you're taking certain medications like ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, and spironolactone, these and other medications may have a side effect of giving you high potassium. So you want to talk to your doctor before incorporating a super high potassium diet.

But for the general population, people who aren't on certain medications or who metabolize potassium normally, then garlic is another one of these delicious power vegetables that can help you to reduce your blood pressure.

Ways To Include Garlic In Your Diet

You can incorporate garlic into almost everything. I know I do. I like to mince my garlic, I put it on my vegetables and in my omelets. And for those of you who do eat meat, you can opt for fatty fish such as salmon or skinless white meat. Adding garlic can certainly help enhance the flavor of these dishes. But you want to make sure, that you don't overcook the garlic because you don't want to denature some of the compounds that are beneficial to your health.

6. Broccoli

Broccoli has all kinds of healthy compounds in it. It has vitamin A which helps to increase your white blood cell production and that's good for your immune system. It has vitamin E, which is an antioxidant beta-carotene. Broccoli also has vitamin C in it and it is loaded with fiber. It also has certain phytochemicals some of the ones that we have talked about which can help to reduce your blood pressure.

You can do broccoli in all kinds of ways. And yes, it is one of these cruciferous vegetables. So for me, I don't like to cook it too much because I don't want to get rid of these healthy beneficial properties that are in it. So a lot of times, I'll just make sure I season it really well. Not with too much salt and I'll just steam my broccoli so that it's still a little bit crispy and not overcooked. You can also eat broccoli raw. I love to eat broccoli and just dip it in a low-calorie dressing, something that doesn't have a lot of added sugar in it.

Sometimes, I prefer incorporating finely chopped broccoli into my salads. To make the salad, I might combine chopped broccoli with red onions and grape tomatoes, then dress it with balsamic sauce and serve it on a bed of spinach or kale. There are all kinds of ways that you can enjoy broccoli. I don't care how you do it, just do it because broccoli is a 'power vegetable' that can help to reduce your blood pressure.

7. Sweet Potatoes

Now, remember as I give you these suggestions if your doctor has told you to be totally low-carb, listen to your doctor. With everything, including incorporating some of these power vegetables, you still want to consult with your physician and consult with your dietician to have an individualized plan for you. But sweet potatoes are a power vegetable and they can help you to reduce your blood pressure.

Sweet potatoes have high potassium and we already talked about, how a high potassium diet can help to lower your blood pressure. Sweet potatoes also have high fiber and we talked about having high fiber in your diet, which can help you to lower your cholesterol naturally. Another thing about sweet potatoes is that they're low on sodium.  And we know that having a low-sodium diet is also good for your blood pressure. Although they have carbohydrates. I do prefer sweet potatoes to white potatoes as far as health, but again, consult with your physician.

How To Incorporate Sweet Potatoes Into Your Diet

I like to bake my sweet potato. I will wrap it up in foil and I will just sit it in the oven at 350 for an hour and a half. And sometimes I'll put my sweet potatoes in a slow cooker and just let it cook for hours which is kind of odd because that really gets it nice and soft and it's out of the way.

When I do the sweet potatoes in the oven, I will sometimes eat them plain because they are already sweet. I don't have to add anything, I don't have to add butter. But if you're in the mood you can add a little cinnamon to your sweet potato.

Another thing that's good with sweet potatoes is making sweet potato fries. Now, if you're old fashioned and from the country like my people, you just get yourself a knife and you cut your own sweet potato fries and put a little olive oil in them on them, season them lightly, and then put them in the oven. Or you can be fancy, and get yourself one of these fry cutters where it's kind of easier, but just be careful as to not cut yourself.  You can also do mashed sweet potatoes. And even, if you're a person who likes a loaded baked potato you can substitute the sweet potato and do that instead of a white potato.

I even did something that was pretty cool like a southwestern sweet potato where I had my potato already baked, cut it in half put some black beans on there. I also had some red onions and avocados. It sounds kind of bizarre you have to get your palate ready. The point is that sweet potatoes are high in potassium, low in sodium and they are a power vegetable that can help you to reduce your blood pressure quickly.

8. Celery

Celery has vital chemicals which can help to reduce the pressure. It also has coumarins which help to increase vascular flow. Celery also has vitamin D, which is good for helping you to absorb calcium for strong bones. Celery is rich in vitamin C which we know is good for your immune system. It also has vitamin K, and just in general, celery can help you by increasing the vascular flow and it can help to decrease blood pressure.

What Are Some Ways To Include Celery In Your Diet?

Celery is often an acquired taste, but my family and I enjoy it nonetheless. Before consuming, we wash it, remove the leaves, and dip it in peanut butter for added flavor. That's a nice way to get your kids to eat celery, or for you to eat celery yourself for the blood pressure-reducing properties. You can also dip it in a healthy dressing if you find a ranch that has low sodium or doesn't have a lot of added sugar or you can create your own ranch type of dressing and put something in there such as garlic.

You can cook with the celery of course, but however you get it in your diet, please do. Now some anecdotal studies show that celery can be good for purifying the skin, and also good for hair growth. We don't have large randomized controlled trials to support that, but we do know that celery won't hurt and it can help because it's a 'power vegetable' that can help to reduce your blood pressure.

9. Cabbage

Cabbage has high fiber, high potassium, and low sodium, all things that we've talked about that are helpful in reducing blood pressure. And with cabbage specifically, if you're talking about red cabbage, it's loaded with certain phytochemicals that can help to lower blood pressure. Red cabbage also has something called anthocyanin and this is a pigment.

It's got a deep red, purple blue color and it's part of a larger group of plant-based chemicals called flavonoids. Other fruits and vegetables that have anthocyanins include red onions, black prunes, blood, oranges, cherries, black beans, red radishes, and pomegranates. But these are some of the properties that have antioxidants, anti-inflammatory effects, and yes, can help to lower blood pressure naturally.

Ways To Incorporate Cabbage Into Your Diet

I do like to cut my cabbage up and throw a little onion in mine and I don't put a lot of water in the pot when I'm cooking cabbage because I really like it to steam and not to be overcooked because I don't want to lose any of the benefits of the phytochemicals and the other things that help to benefit. But I'll definitely put garlic in there, and just kinda eat my cabbage that way.

One great way to prepare cabbage is to stir-fry it with a drizzle of olive oil and add other nutrient-rich vegetables to create a healthy dish. Another way to enjoy cabbage is by fermenting it, such as making sauerkraut. It's crucial to avoid excessive salt and pre-packaged items that contain added sugar or preservatives.

Conclusion

So that's how to reduce high blood pressure fast by eating 7 power vegetables! Remember, when incorporating these vegetables you definitely want to consult with your physician, and with your dietician. And when you are dealing with blood pressure, it is a multifaceted process. You want to practice medicine in an integrated fashion because while lifestyle modifications and eating power vegetables can certainly help to reduce your blood pressure, you may be in a situation where you need medication.

But remember, if you are on a medication and you're really frustrated and you want to get off the medication, no medication is going to stop natural remedies from helping. So go ahead under the supervision of your physician, and incorporate these 'power vegetables' into your diet.  If your blood pressure starts to decrease, guess what? Your doctor will pull back or start to take you off some of the medications. But there's no 'all or none'.

We practice medicine in an integrative fashion. Be creative with these vegetables, salads, and smoothies. Put them in snacks, and add a little peanut butter to them. However you get these 'power vegetables' in your body,  just do it, because it will help to reduce your blood pressure.

Again, I can't stress enough. Managing your blood pressure needs to be a team effort one that is supervised by your physician. But I do hope that this article helped. If you found this information to be helpful and informative please be sure to share it with the people you care about.