Healthy Eating with Hypertension

Eating healthy is just one of many natural treatments for hypertension. Some people might take the easy route, which consists of getting a prescription from their doctor to control high blood pressure, and not make any lifestyle changes. Most people actually would like to eliminate hypertension. It is a curable illness with proper diet and exercise.

Foods that you should eat if you have hypertension should be fresh foods. Fresh vegetables, fresh fruits, lean cuts of beef, skinless chicken and turkey, and fresh cuts of fish all should be a part of your diet to reduce high blood pressure. You may have to adjust your grocery shopping schedule to allow for trips about every three days. This will help ensure that your foods are always fresh. You should only plan your meals out two or three days in advance and then only purchase what you need for those meals.

Vegetables should be steamed, broiled or grilled for the best flavor. You should not boil your vegetables. Boiling leaches out all of the vitamins and helpful properties out of the vegetables. Lean cuts of beef should have little fat and the fat should not be marbled into the meat. Chicken and turkey should be skinless. Fish should be a nice white fish and never used breading. You should bake, broil or grill the meat. Even when baking the meat, use the broiler pan as this allows the fat to drain off.

Fresh spices like garlic, rosemary, sage, and parsley can be used to bring out flavors in the meats and vegetables. These herbs also have other medicinal properties that are beneficial for the body, especially if you have hypertension, high cholesterol, or other heart related diseases. You may also use pepper, spices or even a salt substitute to add flavor to your meats and vegetables. You should never use salt since high sodium consumption contributes to hypertension.