7 healthy eating habits to help lower blood pressure

Even if you take drugs for blood pressure, adding these healthy steps can help lower your blood pressure even more — and allow you to get the most benefit from the lowest dose of medication possible.

For every cup of tea you drink in a day (up to four), your systolic blood pressure could fall by two points and your diastolic pressure could drop by one point, an Australian study suggests.

Then mix 30 grams (2 tablespoons) into your spaghetti sauce, yogurt, or sprinkle on a salad later in the day. This could lower systolic pressure significantly, one study found. The secret ingredient? Probably the omega-3 fatty acids in flax.

All are rich in potassium, nicknamed the un salt by experts because of its ability to keep blood pressure down.

Other high-potassium foods include:

• Spinach
• Lima beans
• Sweet potatoes
• Avocados

Cutting your sodium intake by just 300 milligrams (the amount in about two slices of processed cheese) reduces systolic pressure by two to four points, and diastolic pressure by one to two points.

Cut more sodium, and your pressure drops even lower. Processed foods, not a saltshaker, are the biggest source of excess sodium in our diets. Here are a few more ideas to get you started:

• Omit salt from recipes
• Fill your saltshaker with a salt substitute
• Rinse canned beans and canned vegetables thoroughly twice before cooking
• Select frozen entrées with less than five percent of the daily value for sodium in each serving
• Give unsalted or reduced-salt pretzels, chips, and condiments a try.
• Read the labels on over-the-counter remedies carefully — some, such as antacids, can be surprisingly high in sodium. Your pharmacist can help you find lower-sodium options.

An ounce of crunchy, roasted soybeans cut systolic blood pressure readings by 10 points in one study. Look for unsalted varieties in your supermarket or health food store.

Around the world, milk consumption is dropping as we sip more sodas and other sweetened soft drinks. But milk and other dairy products are important for blood pressure control because they contain calcium, which helps regulate fluid levels in the bloodstream.

Switch from white to whole-wheat bread, from white to brown rice, from low-fibre to high-fibre barley, or refined to whole-wheat cereals, and you could cut your systolic pressure three to seven points and your diastolic pressure by five to six points, says a new study of 25 overweight women and men from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Human Nutrition Research Center in Beltsville, Maryland.

These options are healthy alternatives to surgery and snacks, so head out and pick up a few and drop that salt shaker.