Hypertension/High Blood Pressure Health Center

Lowering Blood Pressure: It's a 2-Step Process

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Not only will fruits and vegetables help your blood pressure, but, according to The American Cancer Society, five servings of them a day can help prevent cancer. Clearly, fruits and vegetables are good for you in more ways than your mother ever dreamed of!

The Eating Plan

So if your blood pressure is a concern, the bottom line is to select from a wide variety of foods within your eating plan, limit alcohol, and get five servings a day of fruits and vegetables -- and, of course, keep salt to a minimum.

Here are more tips for keeping your salt intake down while following your eating plan:

• When making choices within food groups, select fresh or frozen instead of canned foods whenever possible.
• Use low-sodium versions of canned foods and other packaged foods such as sauce mixes.
• Avoid canned, smoked and processed meats, like cold cuts, hot dogs and sausages.
• Use herbs, spices, vinegars, fruits, and vegetables to add extra flavor to your food.
• Avoid condiments high in sodium, like soy sauce, pickles and olives.
• Select frozen entrees with less than 800 milligrams of sodium.
• Avoid salty snacks like potato chips, nuts, and crackers.
• Check the labels on processed cheeses, and choose lower-sodium varieties.