Many lifestyle factors can impact your risk for hypertension (and your odds of lowering it naturally without medication). However, the strongest body of research falls behind nutrition. The decisions you make about how you nourish your body have an outsized impact on your blood pressure.
The right combination of nutrients, consumed on a consistent basis, can give your arteries the tools they need to:
Relax and stay more open
Retain a healthy fluid balance
Lower your risk of a sudden cardiac event
Lower your risk of a stroke
So what are the best diets for high blood pressure? We’ll cover four good options:
Whole-Foods Plant Based Diet
DASH Diet
Mediterranean Diet
Stoplight Method
Before we dive into each option, it’s important to note that these eating patterns share many common factors, which is why they can all be used to successfully lower blood pressure. All of the diets encourage you to:
Eat mostly whole, plant foods
Choose whole grain over white
Choose heart-healthy fats, while limiting saturated fats
Limit intake of processed foods
Limit sodium and added sugars
Limit intake of animal protein (to varying degrees)
Limit intake of dairy products (to varying degrees)
Limit intake of processed foods
Regardless of which diet you choose to follow, these common themes are the most important guidelines to stick to for optimizing heart health through diet.
This is a diet centered entirely around whole, plant foods. This option ensures that each bite you take is benefiting your body. And with the plant-based revolution taking the world by storm, there have never been more options available at restaurants for a healthy, whole-foods diet.
The DASH diet was originally created to lower blood pressure. Specifically, it was intended to capture the benefits associated with a WFPB diet, but offer a more approachable alternative to those who weren’t ready to make a full transition.
Just like the WFPB diet, the DASH diet still centers primarily around whole plant foods. Unlike the WFPB diet, however, the DASH diet allows for low-fat dairy and certain animal proteins. It also encourages limiting sodium, which can be helpful for those whose hypertension is connected to fluid retention.
If you’re coming from a diet where you currently eat a lot of meat and dairy and you find it really intimidating to cut these things out altogether, the DASH diet could provide you with a good framework for changing the balance on your plate. It offers a great balance of flexibility and results.
Like the previous two options, the Mediterranean diet centers around whole plant foods. However, it also includes a few “yellow light” foods, albeit at more modest intake levels than the traditional Western diet. It promotes fish as the primary recommended source of animal protein, and recommends only limited quantities of other animal products and dairy.
If you are someone who values both results and flexibility, this could be the easiest and most effective path for you. With this method, you’ll use the lessons from the Heartful app as a guide to build your daily diet.
Here’s how it works:
View “abundance foods” (whole plant foods) as a green light. Load up on them, and make them the majority of your daily diet. Each day, roughly 75-100% of what you eat should fall into this category.
View “awareness foods” (full list available in the app) as a yellow light. While these foods should not be the cornerstone of your meals, they may still have a relevant place. They can help you move away from avoidance foods, enjoy special occasions, and more.
View “avoidance foods” (full list available in the app) as a red light. Consume them sparingly, or avoid them altogether.
This method offers flexibility and a customized path forward that is tailored to you, while still making sure that your eating patterns move in the best possible direction.
All of these eating patterns can help you bring your blood pressure down to healthier levels from a hypertensive state. The best one for you is the one that you can follow for a lifetime.
Using the free program in the “Heartful for Blood Pressure” app, you can learn more about how each individual type of food (like whole grains, red meat, dairy products, fish, and more) impacts blood pressure. You can also:
Track your weekly habits
See your habit progress over time
Stay motivated with weekly challenges
Calm stress and health anxiety with guided relief sessions
...and more
Download Heartful for free on the Apple App Store, Google Play Store, or create your account on a browser now to get started.
Here’s to a healthier heart!
