Best Smoothie for High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure (also known as hypertension) is both sneaky and deadly. It’s referred to as the “silent killer” by health care professionals across the world since most people don’t have any symptoms that indicate anything’s wrong.

Yet, 1 in 3 U.S. citizens battle with chronic high blood pressure.

A healthy diet with the right type of fruits and veggies can help support lower blood pressure. Smoothies are an easy way to improve your diet and support healthy blood pressure and hypertension. Lets get into the best ingredients and a couple smoothie recipes to get started with.

Understanding High Blood Pressure

To understand high blood pressure, you first need to understand how our circulatory system works. The circulatory system is how your body pumps blood throughout your body.

Every muscle in your body needs energy and oxygen to function properly. To supply this oxygen, your heart pumps blood to these muscles. When your heart beats, it’s pushing blood through your blood vessels, including arteries, capillaries, and veins.

As your blood is moving through your different blood vessels, it pushes against the walls or the layer of cells that line these blood vessels.

When your heart pumps blood through your body, your blood pressure will rise. When your heart relaxes, your blood pressure drops. This pressure or strength in which the blood pumps against these walls is the rate of your blood pressure.

The top number when you evaluate your blood pressure is the systolic number. This number is the pressure your heart uses to pump blood.

The bottom number is the diastolic number. The diastolic number is the pressure when your heart relaxes to refill itself with blood.

A healthy blood pressure rate is less than 120/80. If you have chronic high blood pressure, it’s usually 130/80 or higher.

When you have chronic high blood pressure, your heart is working harder to pump the blood through your blood vessels. This strain damages the tissues or cells on the wall of the vessels.

High blood pressure that’s not treated can lead to several ailments including an aneurysm, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke, or even death.

There are several factors that come into play to up your blood pressure but the biggest cause (though it’s been debated) is too much salt in your diet.

If you’re battling with high blood pressure, it is suggest that you don’t consume more than 2.3 grams of salt a day and ideally under 1.5 grams.

The Best Smoothie Foods for Lowering High Blood Pressure

While we’ve provided a healthy and yummy smoothie to help support lower high blood pressure, you aren’t limited to these ingredients. There are several types of foods that can aid you in treating your high blood pressure.

Berries

Berries are chock full of antioxidants. The most important antioxidant for blood pressure is polyphenols. This antioxidant expands the wall of your blood vessels, leaving more room for your blood to flow.

Hence, dropping your blood pressure.

Types of berries:

• Blueberries
• Strawberries
• Raspberries

Dark Chocolate

Yes, this delicious treat can lower your blood pressure. Keep in mind, you need quality dark chocolate and should only eat a small amount a day.

The cocoa from the cocoa beans have flavonoids that help expand your blood vessels so there’s less risk of damage.

Regular chocolate bars have too much sugar in them, so stick to the dark chocolate.

Flax Seeds

Ground flax seeds go with any veggie and fruit you can think of and are perfect for using in smoothies as it has no distinct taste.

Flax seeds have healthy omega-3 fatty acids. Despite the name, this fatty acid is great for several different ailments. To fight blood pressure, omega-3 fatty acids improves the elasticity of your blood vessels, so they can expand as needed to push blood through them.

A popular flax seed is Garden of Life’s 100% Flax Seed. This brand has high quality flax seeds and these seeds are non-GMO and organic.

-> Click Here for Garden of Life’s 100% Flax Seed Current Price

Leafy Greens

Leafy greens are full of potassium which is vital to your blood pressure. Potassium aids your body in riding itself with sodium through your urine.

A little bit of salt is needed in your diet but excessive sodium (or salt) will make your cells retain too much water. Too much water in your cells increases your blood pressure.

Always use fresh veggies or even frozen veggies. Avoid canned veggies which use sodium to preserve them for a longer amount of time.

Types of leafy greens:

• Collard greens
• Kale
• Romaine lettuce
• Baby Spinach

Pomegranate Juice

Pomegranates and pomegranate juice, like berries, is full of the antioxidant polyphen0l. Polyphenols help to expand your artery, capillary, and vein walls, leaving room for your blood to flow without putting too much pressure.

Red Beets

Another great veggie for lowering blood pressure are red beets. Red beets have nitrates. When digest, nitrates turn into a gas called nitric oxide.

Like antioxidants, this gas helps expand your blood vessels so blood can travel through them much easier.

Believe it or not, beet juice has a sweet but earthy taste. Related article: Red Beet Smoothie recipes

Fruits Rich in Potassium

Fruits that are full of potassium will help lower your blood pressure. Like the potassium in leafy greens, it helps to pass sodium out of your body through your urine.

Types of fruits rich in potassium:

• Bananas
• Kiwis
• Oranges
• Papayas

Fish with Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Like we stated before, omega-3 fatty acids can help with the contraction and relaxation of your blood vessels. Fish is a fantastic source for these fatty acids.

Types of fish with omega-3:

• Mackerel
• Oysters
• Salmon
• Seabass
• Shrimp
• Trout

The Best Smoothies for High Blood Pressure

Blueberry Pomegranate Delight

You can lower your blood pressure levels with ingredients such as the following: skim milk, flax seeds, banana, blueberries, spinach.

• 1 banana
• 1 1/2 cups of blueberries
• 1 cup of spinach or kale
• 1 tablespoon of ground flax seed
• 1 1/2 cups (12 ounces) of pomegranate juice

Heart Healthy Green Smoothie

• 1 Cup Spinach
• 1 Apple sliced and core removed
• 1/2 cup raw oats
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup water

Avocado Smoothie

• 1 cup spinach
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1/2 avocado
• 2 tablespoon raw cacao powder (NOT Cocoa powder)
• 1 unsweetened coconut milk (or water)

Final Thoughts

High blood pressure is a chronic disease. It can be treated but it can’t be cured. In order to keep your blood pressure down, you need to maintain a healthy diet, an exercise routine, and stress reduction. By introducing a healthy smoothie and proper diet, you can regulate your blood pressure naturally.

Also check out our Smoothie recipes for healthy cholesterol.