Raw Onions: Like apples, onions are a quercetin-rich food that lowers high blood pressure. For the best medicinal results, you should eat onions raw since cooked onions don't have the same effect.
You can include them in salads or raitas. If the smell of raw onion is too much for you to bear, you can braise it lightly in stock or broth. You can combine onions with other ingredients that lower high blood pressure such as garlic and olive oil too in a healthy salad.
In particular, the authors identified that quercetin reduced blood pressure. A compound that occurs naturally in a range of fruits and vegetables, including red onion, may help reduce blood pressure.
Nutritional Benefits of Onions
Eating onions can have a healthy impact on your cardiovascular system. Specifically, research has found that the polyphenol called quercetin that's in onions helps reduce high blood pressure and triglyceride levels.
Indigestion: Onion might increase indigestion symptoms. Surgery: Onion might slow blood clotting and lower blood sugar. This might increase the risk for bleeding or interfere with blood sugar control during and after surgical procedures. Stop using onion as a medicine at least 2 weeks before a scheduled surgery.
Spoiled onions may develop dark spots, which will eventually begin to grow mold. You'll also want to avoid onions that have started sprouting, as this indicates they're beginning to go bad. You can also feel your onions to check how fresh they are. Onions with soft or mushy spots are starting to go bad.
In addition to limiting your intake of fats and sugars, eating onions can get your blood sugar-and your weight-on the right track. So here is a simple, powerful health-enhancing recommendation: Eat an onion every day. One medium-sized onion equals approximately one cup of onion when chopped.
In a review of more than 21 published research papers assessing the effect tomatoes and lycopene have on the body, researchers determined that eating more tomatoes lowered risk factors for stroke, and that lycopene was associated with reduced blood pressure.
Carrots are packed full of nutrition and rich in phenolic compounds which can help to reduce inflammation and relax blood vessels, potentially leading to lower blood pressure levels. Carrots are great raw and cooked, but it can be more beneficial to eat raw if the aim is to reduce blood pressure.
Cucumbers are a good source of potassium, magnesium and dietary fibre. These nutrients are known to lower blood pressure, thus reducing the risk of heart diseases. Research has also proved that regular consumption of cucumber juice was helpful in reducing blood pressure, in elderly people with hypertension.
Lemon drink contains traces of several minerals that may be beneficial in lowering blood pressure. Calcium and potassium both can lower blood pressure in those suffering from hypertension. A study suggests that lemon water can help bring the number to the normal range immediately.
Most people with high blood pressure know to reduce sodium in their diets, but adding olive oil can also help to improve outcomes. Olive oil is well known for its role in reducing heart disease and atherosclerosis and can also help reduce blood pressure for people who suffer from Hypertension.
Sweet potatoes: Loaded with magnesium, potassium, and fiber, this side dish superstar is a delicious way to lower blood pressure. Leafy greens: Cabbage, collard greens, spinach, kale, and other greens are high in nitrates, which have been found to offer blood pressure benefits.
According to Macrobiotic nutritionists and health practitioner Shilpa Arora says, "high potassium food items should be encouraged for high BP. Potatoes, beets, carrots, oranges and bananas are excellent food choices." Potassium negates ill effects of sodium, by eliminating sodium through your urine.
Beverages like skim milk, tomato juice, and beet juice may help decrease blood pressure. But it's always important to remember moderation — more of these drinks is not always better.
Cheese is a great source of protein and calcium but is often high in saturated fat and salt. This means eating too much could lead to high cholesterol and high blood pressure, increasing your risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD).
Eggs don't have a direct impact on blood pressure, Dr. Hausvater adds—for example, eating a couple eggs won't cause a surge upward or a sudden downward dip—but they may have an indirect effect because they contain potassium and calcium, which contribute to lower blood pressure.
Organic sulfur compounds help reduce the level of cholesterol in your body and may also help break down blood clots, lowering your risk for heart disease and stroke. You should eat onions raw rather than cooked to get the most sulfur compounds from them.