World Blood Pressure Day: Blood Pressure Lowering Foods

World Hypertension Day is being celebrated all over the world including in Pakistan. High blood pressure is called the silent killer and it is spreading rapidly.

However, blood pressure can be controlled by exercising, avoiding smoking, dietary precautions, and making certain foods part of the routine. Known as the 'silent killer, this condition can lead to heart attacks and strokes. Apart from this, high blood pressure can also cause terrible diseases to the kidneys and eyes.

Although there is a severe lack of data on such patients in Pakistan. But 18 percent of the youth and 33 percent of people over 45 years of age are suffering from some kind of blood pressure disorder according to the National Health Survey. However, smoking, exercise, and certain foods can be very helpful in lowering blood pressure even without medication.

Beetroot

Beetroot juice can play a very important role in lowering blood pressure if you are not a diabetic. A survey was conducted on nearly 300,000 people in Norway. Blood pressure patients who did not have any type of diabetes were selected for this study.

All the participants were divided into two groups, one group was neglected and the other was given a cup of beetroot juice daily. On the 10th day, blood pressure patients showed improvement and blood pressure decreased by 10 to 20 units.

Banana

Banana is rich in potassium. 100 grams of banana contains 358 mg of potassium. Potassium has the property to not only moderate blood pressure but also reduce high blood pressure.

Potassium is an element that keeps the inner walls of blood vessels relaxed and thus dilated. Thus the blood pressure level is reduced.

Tomato

Experts say that drinking a glass of tomato juice is the best natural medicine to keep blood pressure normal. According to the popular website Healthline, it can easily keep blood pressure under control. Japanese experts made some people drink a glass of tomato juice without salt every day for a year.

They observed that the blood pressure decreased significantly, the cholesterol decreased and thus the tendency of narrowing due to plaque filling in the blood vessels was also reduced. This is because tomatoes contain many types of polyphenols and other compounds.

Garlic

Commonly used in the Indian subcontinent, garlic is also called the 'magical vegetable'. It is coated with a chemical called 'Allicin' which keeps blood pressure under control. Therefore, garlic plays an important role in lowering cholesterol. On the other hand, it also lowers blood pressure.