Q: Are there any foods I can eat to reduce high blood pressure if I don’t want to take any medicine?
A: Diet modification, regular exercise, and weight reduction are always beneficial in managing high blood pressure. However, it is not possible to predict whether these measures are enough to control high blood pressure in every individual.
If you want to try diet modification and monitor your blood pressure, you can see if it gets into the normal range. But if your blood pressure remains above normal, you may have to consider medication.
You can try following the DASH diet to help with lowering your blood pressure. Also:
- Eating foods rich in potassium and magnesium (e.g. bananas, orange juice) may help to lower blood pressure.
- Fish consumption has been shown to help, in combination with weight loss.
- Restrict salt intake to 2.3 grams per day.
- Increasing fruits and vegetables can be helpful, and so can taking a multivitamin with folate and calcium.
— Answer from Dr. Shah, physician on JustAnswer.
Daily Answer is excerpted from the JustAnswer archives and features information provided by a Expert on JustAnswer.
