Blood Pressure

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Fibre

159.   It has been known that among populations eating lots of fibre, blood pressure does not rise with age as it does in populations where little fibre is consumed. You already know you should eat fibre for lowering cholesterol, protection against heart disease, stroke and cancer. Well here is one more reason. A four-year follow up study found that women who ate 25-40 grams of fibre a day were about 25% less likely to develop high BP as women who ate less than 10 grams of fibre every day; thus also reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke. Researchers in Japan demonstrated that adding rice bran to the diets of stroke-prone rats (whose hypertension resembles that of humans) lowered the rats’ systolic pressure by about 20%. Note: Remember, fibre works best over long term. Don’t get discouraged, if your BP does not drop right away.

Fish

160.   Active ingredient, Omega-3 fatty acid, along with other components like potassium and selenium present in fish are helpful in lowering BP. Eat fish or take fish oil capsules three times a week. Oily fish like mackerel, tuna, salmon and sardines are to be preferred. It would be more beneficial if you eat foods rich in vitamin E (like wholewheat bread or chapatti, brown rice, broccoli, asparagus) along with fish.

Garlic

161.   Garlic, the great, contains at least 400 chemicals including many antioxidants that protect arteries and promote blood flow. Its main mineral and vitamin contents are calcium, phosphorus, iron, thiamin (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), niacin (vitamin B3) and ascorbic acid (vitamin C). According to Ayurveda, garlic is considered to be a stimulant and a rejuvenator. This fragrant herb does more than add flavour to meals.

162.   Garlic lowers cholesterol and protects your arteries from clogging. With less cholesterol causing traffic jams in your arteries, your blood can zip through your body with less “oomph” from your heart. Garlic is an effective ancient folk remedy to lower BP. Pressure and tension are released because it has the power to ease the spasm of the small arteries. Garlic has been used in China as a blood pressure lowering medication for a very long time and is now widely used in Germany for this purpose.

163.   Garlic (as well as onion) contain a great deal of adenosine, responsible for relaxing the blood vessels and thus decreasing the BP. In a recent German test, doses of a couple of garlic cloves daily reduced blood pressure in hypertension patients from an average 171/102 to 152/89 after three months. Interestingly, garlic’s impact increased throughout the test, suggesting that daily infusions of garlic have a cumulative effect. Both raw and cooked garlic and garlic capsules can lower blood pressure, although raw garlic is thought to be more powerful.