How can you lower high blood pressure? The first long term treatment is to make a diet and lifestyle change. Eat more of the “apple of the tropics,” and improve your diet, said doctors and researchers.
High blood pressure, or hypertension can increase the risk of deadly complications, like heart attacks or strokes. According to the NHS, the ideal blood pressure would be between 90/60mmHg and 120/80mmHg. High blood pressure is considered anything over 140.90mmHg.
Small changes in one’s diet and lifestyle can lower blood pressure.
For example, nutritionists recommend eating more guava, a tropical fruit that contains a lot of vitamin C and antioxidants, potassium and soluble fiber, which not only lower the blood pressure, but also cholesterol levels.
Scientists found that over four guava a day for three months can lower blood pressure by 9/8mmHg.
Biochemist Dr. David Williams explains why diet is very important:
“If you have high blood pressure, your diet is one of the primary ways by which you can lower your blood pressure numbers without medication. It may well be that ‘a guava a day also keeps the doctor away’.”
Guava Fruit – Decreases Blood Pressure and the Risk of Diabetes
He added that researchers in Moradaban, India analyzed the effects guava had on high blood pressure, and the only drawback to this fruit is its availability, because it is not easily found in any store.
In the research, 120 patients with hypertension received a guava every day. Williams stated that the results were impressive:
“After 12 weeks, the patients eating the guava fruit had an average reduction in their systolic blood pressure of nine points, and their diastolic pressure dropped eight points.”
Scientists also saw that more guava per day could also lower the risk of diabetes.
The “apple of the tropics” is easy to find in countries that are near to the equator.
Doris’s passion for writing started to take shape in college where she was editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. Even though she ended up working in IT for more than 7 years, she’s now back to what he always enjoyed doing. With a true passion for technology, Doris mostly covers tech-related topics.