March 24, 2016
“Elevated blood pressure remains a widespread major impediment to health. Obesity and specific dietary factors such as high salt and alcohol intake and low potassium intake adversely affect blood pressure. It is a reasonable hypothesis that additional dietary constituents, particularly macronutrients, may also influence blood pressure1.”Lowering sodium is not always the real issue. When your sodium intake is higher than your potassium, imbalances occur which can affect your blood pressure. Therefore an increase of the deficient micronutrient will positively affect your lipid profile. More important than overall sodium intake is the sodium-to-potassium ratio; thus, eating a high-potassium diet is a better strategy than eating a low-sodium diet2
Adults should aim for 4,700 mg of potassium a day. Too much potassium from supplements can be dangerous; try to get your intake from food! Remember Let Your Food be Your Medicine, and Your Medicine be your food!! What you eat from raw, natural or unprocessed sources will be much more easily assimilated into your system, available for healing.
| Food, Standard Amount | Potassium (mg) | Calories |
| Sweet Potato, baked, 1 potato (146 g) | 694 | 131 |
| Tomato paste, ¼ cup | 664 | 54 |
| Beet greens, cooked, ½ cup | 655 | 19 |
| Potato, baked, flesh, 1 potato (156 g) | 610 | 145 |
| White beans, canned, ½ cup | 595 | 153 |
| Yogurt, plain, non-fat, 8-oz container | 579 | 127 |
| Tomato puree, ½ cup | 549 | 48 |
| Clams, canned, 3 oz | 534 | 126 |
| Yogurt, plain, low-fat, 8-oz container | 531 | 143 |
| Prune juice, ¾ cup | 530 | 136 |
| Carrot juice, ¾ cup | 517 | 71 |
| Blackstrap molasses, 1 Tbsp | 498 | 47 |
| Halibut, cooked, 3 oz | 490 | 119 |
| Tuna, yellowfin, cooked, 3 oz | 484 | 118 |
| Lima beans, cooked, ½ cup | 484 | 104 |
| Winter squash, cooked, ½ cup | 448 | 40 |
| Rockfish, Pacific, cooked, 3 oz | ||
| Cod, Pacific, cooked, 3 oz | 442 | 103 |
| Bananas, 1 medium | 439 | 89 |
| Spinach, cooked, ½ cup | 422 | 105 |
| Tomato juice, ¾ cup | 419 | 21 |
| Tomato sauce, ½ cup | 417 | 31 |
| Peaches, dried, uncooked, ¼ cup | 417 | 31 |
| Prunes, stewed, ½ cup | 398 | 96 |
| Milk, non-fat, 1 cup | 398 | 133 |
| Pork chop, center loin, cooked, 3 oz | 382 | 83 |
| Apricots, dried, uncooked, ¼ cup | 382 | 197 |
| Rainbow trout, farmed, cooked, 3 oz | 378 | 78 |
| Pork loin, center rib (roasts), lean, roasted, 3 oz | 378 | 78 |
| Buttermilk, cultured, low-fat, 1 cup | 371 | 190 |
| Cantaloupe, ¼ medium | 370 | 98 |
| 1%-2% milk, 1 cup | 368 | 47 |
| Honeydew melon, 1/8 medium | 366 | 102-122 |
| Lentils, cooked, ½ cup | 365 | 58 |
| Plantains, cooked, ½ cup slices | 365 | 115 |
| Kidney beans, cooked, ½ cup | 358 | 90 |
| Orange juice, ¾ cup | 358 | 112 |
Try using these foods for two weeks. Experiment! Monitor your blood pressure before and after and take notes! We believe knowing these choices are empowering your health WILL also be delicious and fun!
2. http://chriskresser.com/6-ways-to-lower-blood-pressure-by-changing-your-diet/
3. http://health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/html/appendixb.htm
Tags: Lower Blood Pressure, foods that lower blood pressure
