Taking meds for a lifetime to treat high BP is not a cure. It is merely suppressing it and the symptoms. This doesn’t mean you have to stop the medicine, but at the same time, make lifestyle changes to work on the root cause of the disease.
Erectile dysfunction, stroke, heart attacks, dementia, kidney problems are all related to hypertension if not treated well long term. If you have a high BP your heart, blood vessels, cells, kidneys, etc are affected by the same. So we can’t really just look at the symptom and have medicine for rest of one’s life. Instead, look at the root cause and try to fix it.
Let’s look at a few foods which control hypertension:
■ Dietary fibre found whole grains, pulses, legumes, whole fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds provide overall health benefits such as controlling lipid profile, helping to maintain a healthy weight, lowering your risk of diabetes, heart disease and other issues. These also help in keeping heart health.
■ Garlic is a powerful blood thinner, great for immunity and skin. Garlic can be consumed raw to get it benefits. You can chop the garlic in small little bits sprinkle it over your food or even keep it exposed in oxygen for a minute because Allicinis, the compound that does magic in garlic, needs to be activated by keeping it exposed to oxygen.
■ Amla, or the Indian gooseberry, has a great impact on our body. Just mixing half a teaspoon of amla powder with water and 1 tsp of raw unpasteurised honey can provide a good amount of Vitamin C and good blood circulation. You can have an amla drink on an empty stomach first thing in the morning or 45 minutes after breakfast, lunch or dinner minus the honey and only amla powder with water.
■ Having one to two cups of green tea, preferably an hour after meals, is good to add the antioxidants dose and control the oxidative stress.
■ Watermelon contains citrulline that helps our body to produce nitric oxide – a gas which relaxes blood vessels, makes the arteries flexible, and in turn controls BP.
■ Onion is rich in flavanols and Quercetin helps in dilating your blood vessels and reduces blood pressure.
■ Beetroot is a good source of nitric oxide which helps in relaxation and dilation of blood vessels and controls BP.