Can eating certain foods help to lower blood pressure? - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

You're hoping to get your blood pressure down, and limit (or perhaps avoid) medication. Your doctor likely told you to lose weight, exercise more, reduce stress ... and one more thing. Are you following the DASH (Dietary Approach to Stopping Hypertension) diet?

Along with limiting sodium, the DASH diet promotes eating foods rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium. Potassium is known as a major player in reducing blood pressure. Promising research on magnesium and calcium is in the works. People who will benefit the most from the DASH diet are those with low intakes of these minerals to start with.

Using food sources (versus supplements) is usually advised in order to get the maximal nutritional benefit. Here is the lowdown on which food sources provide ample amounts of these three minerals. Note how many of them overlap and are found in all three "groups."

Potassium is found in abundance in various fruits, vegetables, dairy foods and animal foods, including:

• Apricots, avocado, bananas, prunes, oranges and orange juice, cantaloupe, kiwi
• All meats, poultry and fish
• Milk, yogurt
• Dry peas and beans
• Green beans, pumpkin, spinach, stewed tomatoes, sweet and white potatoes, winter squash

Calcium. Dairy foods are great sources of calcium, but be sure to choose skim or low-fat varieties. On top of saving on calories, lower fat products have more calcium than the high-fat versions. You can find a lot of calcium in:

• Greens such as Swiss chard, spinach and turnip greens
• Cheese, milk and yogurt
• Mackerel, salmon
• Tofu (made with calcium sulfate)

Magnesium. Studies are not consistent, but it seems that the magnesium-blood pressure connection is strongest for magnesium obtained from food, not supplements. Magnesium is found in whole grains, green leafy vegetables, nuts and dry peas and beans, such as:

• Beans and legumes such as Lima, black and pinto
• Greens such as broccoli, Swiss chard, okra and spinach
• Halibut, salmon and scallops
• Pumpkin, sunflower and sesame seeds
• Almonds and cashews
• Whole grains such as millet, quinoa and brown rice
• Whole-grain cooked cereals and breads

As you can see, these minerals are found in a wide range of food sources, which gets back to the age-old advice to eat a varied diet. No one food or group of foods is a cure-all for any condition. But a combined approach using healthy, nutrient-rich foods and regular exercise can go a long way in reducing and/or preventing blood pressure problems.