Go Nutty and Lower Your Blood Pressure -Part 1

Most of us are aware that it is imperative to make lifestyle changes to lower blood pressure that include exercise and less stress. 

The National Institutes of Health in cooperation with "The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute" USA, developed the DASH diet - Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The DASH eating plan provides guidelines to help lower your blood pressure by adopting dietary changes on a long-term basis. 

The DASH diet recommends that a person with high blood pressure need to adopt a diet that is low in saturated fat and low in sodium but high in fiber and minerals like potassium, magnesium & calcium.

Nuts serve as a good source of magnesium, fiber ,healthy fats & potassium making them a part of not only a heart-healthy diet but also a diet that can lower your blood pressure.

Although nuts serve as an excellent source of the heart-healthy nutrients mentioned above,according to DASH recommendations you should have only a handful of nuts a day to stay within your daily limits. 

Almonds

Originally cultivated in Central Asia & China, California is the largest producer of almonds in the world and contributes over 80 percent of the world’s supply of almonds. India imports most of its almonds from California.

Eat unsalted almonds while trying to lower your blood pressure to avoid consumption of sodium. Of the recommended magnesium levels ,almonds provide 20 percent , with 76 milligrams in a 1-ounce(ie app 30grams) serving. The same serving contains 4 grams of fiber+200 milligrams of potassium.  Almonds are also a low saturated fat food, with only 1 gram of saturated fat per serving.

Hazelnuts

Worlds majority of hazelnuts are produced by US,Turkey,Spain & Italy, though hazel nuts originated in Asia as reported by "The International Tree Nut Council Nutrition Research & Education Foundation".Though hazelnuts have a higher total fat content as compared to other nuts with 17 grams in 1 ounce(app 30grams) only 1.5 grams is saturated fat.

 A 1-ounce (app 30gms) serving of hazelnuts contains 3 grams of fiber, 46 milligrams of magnesium and 193 milligrams of potassium.

Pistachios

The pistachio, from the Middle East, has a distinctive green color and partially open shell. The majority of the fat content found in pistachios is heart-healthy fat with only 1.5 grams of saturated fat in 1 ounce.

Pistachios are naturally low in sodium, with just 3 milligrams of sodium in a 1-ounce(app 30grams) serving. 

A serving of one ounce of pistachios provide 295 milligrams of potassium which is 9 percent of the 4,700 milligrams recommended for a healthy blood pressure.

One ounce of pistachios also provide 34 milligrams of magnesium & 3 grams of fiber. 

A person with high blood pressure should ensure that he/she has unsalted pistachios to keep his/her sodium in check.A recent study of 28 subjects with high cholesterol showed reductions in systolic blood pressure after one serving of pistachios a day.

to be ctd.........