7 Carbs You Should Be Buying for Better Blood Pressure
Reviewed by Dietitian Jessica Ball, M.S., RDThere are several factors that influence blood pressure levels beyond just sodium intake.
Healthy carbohydrates can provide nutrients like potassium, fiber, vitamins and minerals that support healthy blood pressure and overall heart health.
Include foods like fruits, beans, yogurt and oats in your diet to reap the benefits.Approximately 1 out of 2 U.S. adults has high blood pressure, putting them at an increased risk of stroke, heart attack and other undesired outcomes. When a person is diagnosed with high blood pressure, the first diet tip that is typically given is to limit the consumption of dietary sodium. And while that is probably a good idea, there are many other nutrients that play a role. Following the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or DASH diet, has been shown to lower blood pressure significantly. It emphasizes foods like whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nonfat or low-fat milk and dairy foods, lean meat, poultry, fish, nuts, seeds, legumes and healthy fats.
If you are a carb lover and have high blood pressure, the good news is that the DASH diet includes several carb-rich foods. And opting for plant-based carbohydrate-containing foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains may help lower blood pressure. Conversely, too many added sugars from foods like sugar-sweetened beverages are associated with higher blood pressure levels and higher hypertension risk. Limiting ultra-processed carbs like doughnuts and candy and focusing on carbs that are more nutrient-dense is a good rule of thumb when navigating your carb choices. Here are some of the best carbs to include in your diet for healthy blood pressure levels.
The darling of potassium-containing foods, bananas are one of the best carb-rich foods to eat to support healthy blood pressure. Since the American Heart Association recommends that adults with blood pressure above 120/80 increase their dietary potassium intake, including bananas in your eating pattern is a smart choice.
Of course, you can enjoy a banana simply by peeling it and eating it when you are on the go. But you can also whip up some Tart Cherry Nice Cream or a Chocolate-Banana Protein Smoothie to help you add in some extra potassium.
Beans offer some natural carbs along with plant-based protein and a slew of vitamins and minerals, including healthy blood-pressure-supporting magnesium. Plus, the soluble and insoluble fiber, including resistant starch naturally found in beans, may help support blood pressure control.
Try a No-Cook Black Bean Salad or a Sheet-Pan Chicken Fajita Bowl to include more beans in your diet.
Yogurt has become a popular food among the gut-health-supporting crowd, thanks to its live and active cultures that can help maintain a balanced microbiome. But yogurt is so much more than a probiotic-packed dairy food.
When it comes to blood pressure support, data showed that, among a small sample of people with high blood pressure, the simple act of eating yogurt may help reduce those numbers. Dairy yogurt naturally contains the trifecta of the healthy blood-pressure-supporting minerals calcium, magnesium and potassium. Plus, the probiotics found in yogurt may play a separate role in reducing blood pressure.
Yogurt can be used to make various dishes, from a Mini Frozen Yogurt Parfait to a refreshing Fruit & Yogurt Smoothie. Of course, yogurt can simply be enjoyed on its own, topped with berries and a drizzle of honey.
Watermelon is juicy, naturally sweet, and delicious. And as an added bonus, it may support healthy blood pressure levels. A meta-analysis looked into how watermelon consumption might influence heart health, focusing specifically on factors like blood pressure. Results showed that watermelon consumption significantly decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP), showing just how great this fruit can be when trying to keep blood pressure levels in in-check.
Try our Watermelon-Peach Smoothie for a delicious watermelon-forward sip.
Whole grains, like oats, are better options to support healthy blood pressure when it comes to grain choices. Unlike refined grains that typically only contain the endosperm of the grain, whole grains contain all three parts of the grain—the bran, endosperm and germ—giving these foods a nutritional edge. Whole grains contain more abundant and diverse nutrients with potential health benefits, including more fiber, vitamins and minerals compared with most of their refined counterparts. Data shows a protective association between consuming more whole grains and a lower risk for high blood pressure.
Eating plenty of fiber-rich whole grains might also reduce the risk of hypertension by giving a boost to your gut microbiota. Oats may be especially valuable because they contain a type of fiber called beta-glucans, which has been linked to both lower systolic and lower diastolic blood pressure.
For simple recipes that include oats, try our Cinnamon Roll Overnight Oats, Peanut Butter Energy Balls or Baked Oatmeal with Pears.
Adding a cup of blueberries to your daily diet may do more than offer a flavorful boost with no added sugar. One study showed that, when people ate fresh blueberries, powdered blueberries, and a control (no blueberries) over several weeks, while no major differences were found between the groups in terms of blood pressure, the study did find that fresh and powdered blueberries slightly improved levels of a compound (nitrite) that may support blood vessel health.
An older study showed that eating around 1 cup of wild blueberries (the slightly smaller blueberries that are typically found frozen in your grocery store) every day may help reduce systolic blood pressure.
Blueberries contain fiber, vitamins and minerals, nutrients that can help support a person's cardiovascular and overall health. And like many other naturally blue or purple foods, blueberries contain anthocyanins, a polyphenol that gives these foods that beautiful colorful hue and may account for the blood pressure benefits that have been observed. While wild blueberries contain more anthocyanins than cultivated blueberries, all blueberries pack a serious anthocyanin punch.
No matter whether you are enjoying Blueberry-Lemon Energy Balls or Blueberry Almond Chia Pudding, they're delicious and help support healthy blood pressure levels.
Sipping on a glass of 100% orange juice can do much more for you than support your immune system. Pure OJ is a natural source of potassium, one of the highlighted minerals of the DASH diet. Citrus fruits, like the oranges used to make 100% OJ, contain an antioxidant called hesperidin. This antioxidant may play a role in supporting heart health in various ways.
In one randomized controlled trial, people with either stage 1 or pre-hypertension who consumed 500 milliliters of orange juice daily for 12 weeks had significantly reduced systolic blood pressure compared with those who drank a hesperidin-free drink with the same amount of calories, vitamin C and citric acid.
Sipping on a Carrot Orange Juice or Frozen Orange-Ginger-Turmeric Shots can give you a boost of hesperidin in a delicious vessel.
When it comes to managing blood pressure levels, sodium might be the first thing that comes to mind. And while limiting sodium intake can be helpful, there are several other things to consider when following a DASH diet eating pattern. Namely, certain carbs like fruits, beans, yogurt and oats can provide nutrients like potassium and fiber which are crucial for heart health and blood pressure management.
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