Getting the Facts

What to eat vs. what not to eat for lowering blood pressure and improving overall health.

If you have high blood pressure, heart disease, or a family history of either, you’ve likely been told to “watch what you eat” or to “eat healthy.” 

But what does that actually mean? 

Eating healthy these days is a catch-all for a broad range of diets from paleo to keto to vegan, all claiming to be saviors to your health. With so many diets and dogma around “the right way to eat” we’ve been left with a lot of confusing and conflicting information. 

The reality is - everyone’s body is different.

Some people do really well eating no meat - they may find this helpful in lowering blood pressure and cholesterol. Others find they need meat to help their bodies feel balanced. 

There is also a ton of confusion around fats. Are they good? Are they bad? The answer is not so straightforward.  So, if you’re confused about what you should eat for your body, you’re not alone!

I want you to understand the basics of what you should eat and what you shouldn’t eat for your condition. Also, these are just great for general health!

1. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables

Pretty simple, although it can be hard to do! Fruits and vegetables are nutrient-dense, which means they provide our bodies with a lot of vitamins and minerals. They contain potassium, magnesium, and calcium which keep our blood pressure low. 

To build any habit, start small.  Try adding a piece of fruit each day for a snack, then once you’ve got that down, add in another. Even if you don’t live near a grocery store, 711’s and convenience stores usually have bananas, apples, oranges, and fruit cups. 

2. Lower your salt 

I know it's hard to hear, but salt hardens the arteries and raises blood pressure. This puts pressure on the kidneys as well, making it difficult for the body to eliminate salt out of the body. Because restaurants and fast food joint add a tons of salt to their food, if you eat out, you are likely eating a lot more salt than at home. Ask for a nutrition menu and try to keep your salt under 2,300 mg per day. That’s about a teaspoon, which isn't much! So if this feels like a lot, just start with lowering your salt little by little. When you cook at home, try adding just a pinch of salt and boosting your spices instead to add more flavor. 

3. Stay away from vegetable/canola oil as much as possible.

Instead of thinking fats are good or bad, think more about changing and lowering your oils. Since saturated fats increase cholesterol and put more pressure on your heart, it's important to lower saturated fats, which have a huge impact on blood pressure. If you eat at home, cooking with olive oil or avocado oil is recommended, and if you can’t find or afford these oils, you can cook with no oil or even use a little bit of water or broth.  However, If you’re eating out this is where it gets tricky. Most restaurants and fast-food chains cook their food in canola, vegetable, or soybean oil. This is where we need to get creative.  Since we gotta eat, it's important to focus on what you do have control of, so in this case just focus on lowering the amount of bad oils you're eating. Even if you’re eating food cooked in canola oil, you can still choose the item that has the least amount of oil, like choosing the grilled option or even asking them to cook your meal without oil. Don't be shy when ordering, a crucial step to getting your health back is asking for what you need!

4. Lower the amount of preservatives and additives you’re eating.

Unfortunately most foods canned, frozen, dried, dehydrated, or packaged have additives or preservatives. Preservatives are found in processed foods to keep them from going bad and often contain high levels of sodium, fat, and processed sugar as well as other compounds that are linked to cancer– Yikes! 

This means things like Citric acid, ascorbic acid, msg, “natural flavors, sodium benzoate, as well as added salt, sugars and fats like high fructose corn syrup or canola oil are added to food, but don’t need to be there.  It’s really hard to get these completely out of your diet since these ingredients are in most packaged foods, so a great place to start is by trying to buy more foods that don’t come in a package.  For example, instead of buying a bag of chips, buy a cup of fruit. And if you’re set on buying the chips, look at the back of the ingredients and see if you can find a bag that has the least amount of ingredients and ingredients that are real foods not preservatives. Remember, go slow, and just make small changes!

5. Hydrate— a lot!

If the previous 4 tips feel overwhelming or unrealistic, start HERE— It's the easiest and quickest way to lower your blood pressure and improve overall health. But what does it mean to hydrate? Hydration is a combination of drinking enough water and consuming foods that contain water. That means, For men  drinking at least 15 cups of water per day and for women at least 11 cups, which on average is about 3 liters a day.  My advice, invest in a water bottle and bring it everywhere. And, if you don't like the taste of water, coconut water is a great substitute! The second thing to remember is that not all your hydration should come from drinking water. The standard American diet and diets in the black community are high in salt, vinegar, and MSG, which are very dehydrating! Counter this by eating foods that contain high amounts of water like watermelon, honeydew, strawberries, peaches, oranges and lettuce, to name a few. Remember to go slow, and if you drink very little water now, just start with a few cups a day. And if you don't have a lot of hydrating food in your diet,  start with just one food and be proud of yourself for making the change!

Making changes to your health should not be complicated, but with all the confusion in the health and wellness world around what’s healthy and what’s not healthy, a lot of us are left lost and overwhelmed.

Use these 5 tools as a foundation for your health and when in doubt start with the one that feels the easiest to start with. Take what works for you and your body, income, and lifestyle and leave the rest for when you're ready. You got this!