5 foods that lower high blood pressure

Heart disease is one of the country's biggest killers but in most cases it is preventable. Help keep your blood pressure at a healthy level by eating more of these five foods.

Minerals calcium, magnesium and potassium, usually found in fresh produce help lower high blood pressure in several ways. For example, potassium helps the body excrete excess sodium, while calcium and magnesium work together to keep artery walls flexible. The developers of the highly effective blood pressure–control eating plan called the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) Diet recommend four to five servings each of fruit and vegetables every day. To get the most of the miracle minerals, choose these top sources:

• Potassium: Baked potato with skin, tomato sauce, lima beans, orange juice, cooked spinach, winter squash, bananas, raisins and prune juice.
• Calcium: Dairy foods have the most, but cooked spinach, turnip greens and broccoli are also good sources.
• Magnesium: Bulgur, oat bran, barley, beans (black, navy, pinto), okra, cooked spinach, plantain and pumpkin seeds.

Developers of the DASH Diet say treats, like a slice of low-fat cheese or smoothies with fresh fruit and yogurt, are more than delicious; they're an essential part of a strategy to keep blood pressure healthy. Dairy foods are a top source of calcium, which helps prevent artery walls from stiffening. Stick with low-fat or fat-free versions to keep the saturated fat in your diet low. If you absolutely hate dairy products, get 600 to 900 milligrams of calcium a day in supplement form.

Drinking just one diet cola a day raised the risk of high blood pressure by five percent, and a four-cans-a-day habit increased the odds by 19 percent in a Harvard School of Public Health study. Risks were even higher for women who drank regular colas. Experts can't explain the association but suggest that coffee might be a better alternative; women who sipped coffee every day had no added risk for hypertension. While coffee triggers a temporary rise in blood pressure, it doesn't persist in people who drink it regularly.

British researchers report drinking 500 millilitres (two cups) of beet juice a day can lower your blood pressure by eight to 10 points, fast. Volunteers who sipped the mentioned dose a day saw their pressure drop significantly after three hours and stay lower for up to a day. Emerging research suggests that nitrates in beets keep the whisper-thin lining of your arteries supple.

That's right, just one bite! When people with slightly high blood pressure ate 30 calories' worth of dark chocolate (about the amount in one Hershey's Kiss) each night after dinner for 18 weeks, their blood pressure fell by two to three points. Artery-friendly compounds called flavonols may be responsible for the improvement. Dark chocolate is also a good source of magnesium.

So taking care of your blood pressure doesn't have to mean restricting your diet to bland foods. It can include tasty options like smoothies, coffee and even dark chocolate.