May is High Blood Pressure Education Month, and spring is a great time to consider simple lifestyle changes that can help you reach or maintain your blood pressure within a healthy range.
You may have heard that certain foods, like beets and bananas, can help you lower blood pressure.
Bananas provide you with potassium which can lower blood pressure by relaxing blood vessel walls and helping the body dispose of sodium. Beets contain nitrates, which convert into nitric oxide, a compound that may lower blood pressure by relaxing the blood vessels, allowing blood to flow more easily.
As a Greenville-based physician, I’ve seen firsthand that eating plenty of plant-based foods like beets, bananas, greens, and beans, can help patients reach their health goals, including maintaining a healthy blood pressure.
I recently read a scientific paper that really grabbed my attention. A large scientific review published in the “Journal of the American Medical Association,” involving 21,915 study participants, found that following a plant-based diet is associated with lower blood pressure.
In my medical practice, patients often ask if there’s a non-drug lifestyle approach to improving their health, and in many cases the scientific evidence supports that approach.
Some studies focus on the workplace since that’s where we spend a great deal of time.
A study published in the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine found that hospital workers following a plant-based diet experienced a decrease in their diastolic blood pressure and improved other cardiometabolic outcomes.
Many hospital workers face a fast-paced, stressful workplace, but the study found that quality of life increased among the hospital workers focusing on fruits, veggies, whole grains, and beans.
Nationally, nearly half of U.S. adults have high blood pressure, and alarmingly, this condition is increasing among children.
About 1 in 3 South Carolinians have been told by a doctor that they have high blood pressure, and thousands more South Carolinians have high blood pressure and don’t know it, according to the South Carolina Department of Public Health.
But high blood pressure can be prevented with lifestyle changes.
Bananas have always been among the most affordable fresh fruits, so shoppers were surprised when the cost of bananas started to rise in response to tariffs placed on banana-producing countries.
But now, the cost of America’s favorite fruit is headed down from all-time highs, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Meanwhile, beef has become more costly over the last year, so now is an excellent time to explore various delicious sources of plant-based protein like beans, lentils, nuts, and mushrooms.
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These foods are more affordable as well as better for your health. If you shop for plant-based meals, you can cut food costs by 19%, when compared with a standard American diet, according to research published in JAMA Network Open.
Bananas are a tropical fruit and they usually travel long distances to reach your fruit bowl, but South Carolina is part of an exciting new trend in agriculture that allows people to buy fresh, locally grown food all year round.
It’s the rise of indoor, hydroponic farms, like the Hurricane Creek Farm in Pelzer, where you can find hydroponically grown tomatoes, cucumbers, bell peppers, lettuce, and strawberries.
One of the most forward-thinking and successful companies specializing in indoor farming technology, AmplifiedAg, is based in Charleston.
Now that spring is here, South Carolina offers many outdoor activities that can help you and your family maintain an active, healthy lifestyle.
For example, you can plan an excursion to one of your local farms where you can pick your own berries.
Several scientific studies have found that blueberries can help lower your blood pressure, but like bananas and beets, blueberries are most beneficial as part of an eating pattern focused on plant-based foods.
