15 BEST Foods to Lower High Blood Pressure NATURALLY!

This is Dr. Tom Biernacki. And today I'm going over the top 15 best scientifically proven foods to lower your blood pressure. This is the silent killer. And we're starting now. Blood pressure rates are rising like crazy, and food is one of the best proven, if not the most proven ways of lowering it. So we're going to go over what you should be doing to control your blood pressure, according to the studies. High blood pressure increases the risk of heart attack, stroke and death. It's often called the silent killer. Lowering your blood pressure by even a small amount can significantly reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease and even death. The top ten causes of high blood pressure are number one genetics. I deal with this personally. I have this in my family, a lot of my older family members. This stuff is very important for me. That's why I stay on top of this. Studies have identified several genetic factors that contribute to high blood pressure. For example, in 2009, in the Journal of Hypertension, they associated a lot of genes with an increased risk of hypertension. Your diet. The diet is huge. Very well studied. The Dash diet in the New England Journal of Medicine, which is the highest quality journal. I believe it's ranked number one in terms of citation ratings. Obesity, being overweight or obese is a well-established risk factor for high blood pressure. Multiple studies demonstrate this. There was a study in the Journal of Hypertension 2016 physical inactivity. We're all sitting more. We're not moving as much. There's less exercise. There's more obesity. This is shown by the Framingham Heart Study. Stress, chronic stress and high levels of mental tension can contribute to high blood pressure. Alcohol consumption. There is a clear link between alcohol and blood pressure. But smoking smoking clearly damages blood vessels and can lead to increase in blood pressure. The American Journal of Hypertension 2014 showed that more smoking, more blood pressure and chronic kidney disease. The kidneys are very important for controlling our blood pressure. Make sure to get your kidneys checked out if you have high blood pressure. Sleep apnea. Sleep is huge. If you're not getting enough sleep, you're much more likely to have high cortisol, high blood sugar and high blood pressure. The Journal of American Medical Association 2013 highlighted this sleep study and high blood pressure. And then you have medications and certain health conditions. I'm going to lump that all into number ten. One of the keys is monitor blood pressure at home with a reliable device. This can provide valuable information for managing hypertension. You can see what's working, what's not working at the same time. See your primary care doctor or your cardiologist. So let's talk about the DASH diet. This was published in a high level study in the New England Journal of Medicine in 1997 and is generally accepted to be the best diet approach towards managing high blood pressure. The DASH diet emphasizes balanced and heart healthy eating plans, which is supported by scientific studies for its effectiveness in reducing blood pressure. This is my own list though. I made my food from less practical and less effective to most practical, everyday and most effective. Number 15 Dark Chocolate. You can't eat this all the time, but dark chocolate contains flavonoids, which may have a mild blood pressure lowering effect. However, don't go too crazy because if you get too obese, that raises your blood sugar. 14 Pomegranates. These are rich in antioxidants. Some ingredients showed that it can reduce blood pressure. The Journal of Phyto Therapy Research in 2014 found that pomegranate juice consumption led to significant decrease in systolic and diastolic blood pressure. But it is loaded with sugar. So, again, you don't want to become obese. 13. Hibiscus tea. Hibiscus tea has been shown to lower blood pressure. The Journal of Hypertension 2015 demonstrated that regular consumption of hibiscus tea is associated with decreasing blood pressure. Number 12. Tomatoes. I love tomatoes. They're a great source of potassium. And potassium is one of the most proven things in lowering blood pressure. And it contains the antioxidant lycopene. Some studies suggest lycopene rich tomatoes can lower blood pressure. As large scale meta analysis in the Journal of Molecules in 2017 reported a significant reduction in blood pressure with tomatoes. 11. Nuts and seeds. I love nuts and seeds. They're high in potassium, magnesium, healthy fats. These can contribute to lower blood pressure. By the way, when I talk about all these supplements, I have a video of the top 15 supplements to lower your blood pressure. Very exciting video. As you can see, I'm pretty passionate about getting your blood pressure down. But anyway, nuts. They're low in sugar. They're high in these great nutrients. A systemic review and meta analysis published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2010 found that nut consumption was associated with reduced blood pressure. Number ten. Berries. Berries like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries are rich in antioxidants called flavonoids. And you know what? Me as a father with four kids. My kids love eating these berries. I'm going to make sure they have low blood pressure. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2011 showed that regular berry consumption did decrease blood pressure. Number nine, garlic. Garlic has been associated with a modest reduction in blood pressure. A meta analysis in the journal of Clinical Hypertension in 2018 that garlic supplementation was associated with a small decrease in blood pressure. Number eight, fatty fish, salmon, mackerel, sardines. They're high in omega three fatty acids. Omega three fatty acids are amazing. A systematic review published in the American Journal of Hypertension in 2014 showed a significant reduction in blood pressure with omega three supplements. Check out my videos on those below. Number seven. Leafy greens. Leafy greens like spinach, kale, Swiss chard are high in potassium, which can help regulate blood pressure. A study published in the Journal of Hypertension in 2001 demonstrated the beneficial effects of increased potassium. You can see a theme here. More potassium Is so blood pressure healthy box lists are such a controversial topic. I get bashed in the videos. Tell me if these help for you if you're using a blood pressure monitor at home. If these leafy greens help you get healthy, I know they help me, but some people are like, Hey, you're the devil for promoting OCS. Let's let me know in the comments. These videos are so effective and they help so many people. I love getting the conversation going. There is a Dr. Steven Gundry reading a lot of books and selling really expensive supplements and making a lot of money promoting oxidants. There are some studies about kidney stones and some inflammation, but it's thought to be rare. But I did a deep dive video about all the biggest chocolate foods and what the research really shows about these. you have any experiences personally with excellence, I would love to hear them so that we can update and make these videos even better. Number six Beets. I was born in Poland, so we beat soup. I used to eat that as a kid. They're high in nitrates, which help relax blood vessels and improve blood flow. The Journal of Nutrition Metabolism in 2013 found that beetroot juice consumption led to significant amounts of blood pressure reduction. Number five, whole grains, whole grains such as oats, brown rice, quinoa are rich in fiber, which can contribute to low blood pressure. A meta analysis published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 2016 found that more whole grain consumption can reduce blood pressure. Now, I'm going to stop this right here, and I'm going to say, don't go crazy eating breads. You can get supplements and fiber supplements. I link some down below that helps with hemorrhoids. That helps with everything. It can help with blood pressure. That's no one seemed to go out and eat a loaf of bread. The sugar content and the carb content is going to make you obese, and that's going to be overall worse for your blood pressure. But if you're going to eat white bread, maybe get some whole grain bread instead. But don't go crazy for oats. Oats contain beta glucans, which may help lower blood pressure, according to the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. In 2017, oat consumption was associated with lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure. But again, if you're not eating high carbs already, don't start going crazy. Three fruits. I get attacked about fruits a lot. People are like, Hey, you're promoting sugar eating. And that's true. If you're like a diabetic, don't go crazy eating sugar when you actually fruits, they don't actually pop your blood sugar level. Like simple carbs like cookies would be. Even though there is sugar in fruit, there's a lot of fiber. There's a lot of poorly digested carbs in there. They're rich in antioxidants. Bananas, oranges, strawberries, apples. They're loaded with vitamin C, lots of great nutrition that can help your blood pressure in other ways. Research has shown the benefits of fruit consumption overall on blood pressure reduction. They have sugar. No one seemed to eat a whole bag of apples and peel the skin. Eat it with the skin. Eat it in moderation. Get some good nutrients in Overall, it's shown to help. I'm always open to new studies, new viewpoints. I'm just trying to help my patients here. Number two, beans and legumes. Beans and legumes like lentils, black beans and kidney beans are high in fiber, protein and potassium, which may lower blood pressure. Studies have indicated the positive impact of bean consumption on blood pressure management. I love beans. Tell me if I'm crazy. But I used to eat them with a spoon out of a can. Don't get the baked beans that are loaded with sugar though. Go to like Aldi for your grocery store and get the non sugar loaded ones. You get full so quick. That's like the diet of the year. Eating a can of beans before dinner. You won't want to overeat any cookies. And number one, bump on low fat dairy products. These are very practical, very important in the Dash diet. Now, here's the thing. I made a video talking about why you should quit dairy. I don't think people should quit dairy. That was more of a response to the sensational videos online. People saying you should quit dairy. This is one of the big benefits in low fat dairy products like yogurt and milk are great sources of calcium and potassium. Milk is a controversial issue. Now, some people say there's a lot of allergies, a lot of lactose intolerance. Some people say it's like sugar if it's skim milk. The Dash diet does advocate for milk. I have a lot of kids, so we go through a lot of milk. No one saying to eat high sugary cereals with milk, but a little bit of milk. Get your potassium. Get your calcium, get some vitamin D, You could supplement it if you don't want to drink milk. No one saying to go crazy. And that's where the blood pressure device comes in. That's why if you're a diabetic, check your blood sugar levels. See how it affects you. Some people are affected differently. I took a look at the studies and potassium in the diet at proper amounts was significant across numerous studies in reducing blood pressure. So 3 to 4 points were improved with a daily intake and proper intake of potassium and dairy can provide that. I took a look at the updates on the DASH diet that we just talked about, and there's actually 30 randomized controlled trials, which are pretty high level studies and meta analysis. Took a look back at these and there was five and a half thousand patients roughly that were on the Dash diet for multiple months. The results showed a signifier lowering of the blood pressure. The average blood pressure drop was 4.2 millimeters of mercury across the systolic and diastolic blood pressure. The biggest drop was seen with younger age, so people under 50 had a bigger blood pressure drop than people over 50. That's probably because there is less health issues that were compromising like potentially chronic kidney disease. And people who started with a higher salt intake had a better improvement of their blood pressure. And the real key is it's not just the specific foods, but your overall body weight. Half the country is obese now. It's not just America either. It's the world that's rising. You have to get that under control. at the obesity rates around the world. It's not just North America and the United States, which is a myth. Europe is actually a little bit higher. South America's getting up there. The world overall, Asia, Oceania and even Africa is getting up there. So everyone is getting more and more obese. So look at these statistics. Since just 2000, it's gone up from 30% to 42.4%. And even the severe obesity rate has doubled. So it's going up. And what about COVID? When COVID started, the rates shot up even more rapidly. So this problem is already horrible and it's only getting worse. People are getting higher rates of diabetes. Everything I'm going to talk about here is more relevant than ever. But here's the stuff you also want to do besides your diet. Reduce your salt intake, especially if you have kidney issues, especially if you're overweight. Use your monitor to monitor your blood pressure. See how it's gone and stay in touch with your doctor. Easy tip is there's a lot of great monitoring, blood pressure devices at home. People have less trust than ever in doctors. That's why you're probably watching a YouTube video. But it's very important to potentially get a blood pressure monitoring device. These are very cost effective. They're very easy to use and they can give you a lot of information. A lot of patients make this mistake, but don't drink coffee, don't smoke, don't exercise at least 30 minutes before once had a patient drink, a Mountain Dew and his blood pressure was sky high and he panicked. But that's a fake reading. Or if you're scared by a doctor, then you sit there with your arm cuffed on a flat surface, like a table. Sit back, relax. Don't talk. And guidelines recommend taking three readings. Just be cautious. You could be nervous. You could have white coat syndrome. That's when you're scared of the doctor. You might have drank some coffee. You might be having anxiety. Just compare. You will see two numbers. One is called your systolic. That's when your heart is beating and your diastolic. That's when your heart is relaxed. Normal levels are below 130 and below 85. You can see, though, when you start to get into high levels, when it gets over 130 and over 85 and then once you get into the one sixties, over 100 or 180 over 110, that's when you really need to reach out to your doctor immediately. Cut out smoking. Cut out alcohol. That's terrible for you. And overall, you need to prioritize losing weight, going back to like fruits and breads. No one saying to eat more calories of fruits and breads. You have to keep a negative calorie balance. If you're overweight and lose weight, that's really important to manage your stress levels. Make sure you're getting enough sleep. 7 to 8 hours a night is key. That's so important for your blood pressure. It'll get your stress down and get you healthier We go over this more in the supplement Guide for Blood Pressure Melatonin. In a meta analysis of seven studies and over 200 patients, melatonin at a dose of five milligrams lowered the blood pressure an average of 6.1 millimeters of mercury for the systolic blood pressure. That's pretty impressive, actually. and regular exercise. My top five blood pressure treatments and for overall health in order are strength training, number one, even 5 to 10 minutes a day while pushups, air squats, sit ups, whatever you can do, lifting a book in front of you that's considered strength training. Studies have shown that's the single most important thing you can do for your overall health and life span. Number two cardio. I go over a walking guide how anybody in any health condition can gradually start walking. If you're 60, 70 or 80, 90, check out that video below. Cardio is so good for you. One of the most proven things that helps you sleep at the same time. Diet and then supplements. So supplements are last. But I do have a video. The top 15 supplements for your high blood pressure. Check that out below. This is one I've put a lot of effort into.