Superfoods For Blood Pressure and Cholesterol

If you suffer from high blood pressure or high cholesterol, you’re not alone. 
Approximately 1.13 billion people in the world have high blood pressure, and high 
cholesterol is named in about 2.6 million deaths. These are some scary statistics for two 
conditions that often go unnoticed. However, when your doctor says you have high 
blood pressure or cholesterol, you know it’s time to get help.

The Dangers of High Blood Pressure and Cholesterol

Before talking about superfoods that can help lower these dangerous conditions, let’s 
go over why it is so dangerous to have high blood pressure and cholesterol in the first 
place. Both of these conditions are known as ‘silent killers’ because they don’t often 
have obvious side effects. However, they can be potentially fatal or cause very serious 
medical conditions.

High blood pressure and cholesterol have been linked with:

Heart disease
Heart attacks
Strokes
Kidney disease
Sexual dysfunction
Loss of vision
Artery disease
Angina

What You Can Do About it

Luckily, there are ways to both treat and prevent high blood pressure and cholesterol. 
This includes eating a healthy diet, getting regular exercise, and taking medications as 
prescribed. Following a healthy diet is really important, which begins with superfoods. 
Here are some superfoods to add to your diet for both your cholesterol and high blood 
pressure.

Avocados

An excellent superfood to start with if you have high blood pressure or the bad type of 
cholesterol is avocados. Avocados are healthy and nutritious, packed full of vitamins 
and minerals. Some of the top nutrients found in avocados are potassium, protein, and 
fiber. These might be a little high in fat and calories, but they are good fats! These are 
known as a heart-healthy food.

Ways to Use Avocados

It is extremely easy to add more avocados to your diet. Here are some different ways to 
accomplish this:

Replace mayonnaise in recipes like egg salad or tuna salad with mashed avocado.
Use mashed avocado on your toast instead of butter.
Enjoy guacamole with baked tortilla chips or raw veggies.
Add avocado slices to your sandwich or burger.

Spinach

As far as leafy greens go, you can’t go wrong with spinach. Just about everyone can 
benefit from eating more spinach, as it contains a lot of important nutrients. There is 
plenty of folate in spinach, also called folic acid, which can help with high blood 
pressure. It is also full of magnesium and potassium, which help with your cholesterol 
levels. Spinach is also a low-fat food so it is easy to add to your meals even if you are 
on a diet for weight loss.

How to Enjoy More Spinach

If you are new to eating spinach, then you might not be completely aware of how to add 
it to your meals. Here are some ideas to help get you started:

Make a smoothie with spinach and lots of fruits to cover up the taste.
Get a juicer and start juicing fruits and veggies with herbs, making sure you use a 
handful of spinach.
Have a garden salad with mixed greens like spinach, kale, and romaine lettuce.
Add some spinach to your casserole or stir-fry as it breaks down nicely.

Oatmeal

If you are in search of a healthier breakfast alternative that includes superfoods and will 
help with your cholesterol at the same time, oatmeal is the perfect option. Oatmeal can 
help to lower your LDL, which is the bad time of cholesterol you want to keep as low as 
possible. This is due to the fiber content in oatmeal. It also contains other essential 
nutrients, including protein and potassium. There is a general reduced risk of 
cardiovascular risk when you have oatmeal on a regular basis.

3 Ways to Enjoy Oatmeal

Here are three options for enjoying oatmeal in the morning for a healthy breakfast:

Make overnight oats the night before with bananas and peanut butter for fruit and 
healthy fats.
Add oats to your morning smoothie fi you need a super fast breakfast option.
Make oatmeal with steel-cut oats and add fresh fruit and a drizzle of raw honey on top.

Almonds

There are many nuts that are good for you, as long as you get the unsalted variety and 
don’t over indulge on them. A superfood nut that is great for high blood pressure and 
cholesterol is the almond. Almonds are heart-healthy snacks that provide a good 
amount of fiber and unsaturated fats to help with the good cholesterol, and reduce the 
bad cholesterol.

Top These Foods With Almonds

Almonds are perfect for topping different foods and snacks, which allows you to use the 
single serving amount, and get a nice crunch at the same time. Here are some ways to 
use almonds as a topping:

Use slivered almonds on the top of your favorite salad.
Top soup and chili with almonds.
Get seasoned almonds, such as chili flavor, to put on top of your quinoa or whole grain 
rice.
Add some slivered almonds to top your smoothie or smoothie bowls.

Oranges

Both oranges and orange juice are great for you. These superfoods contain tons of 
vitamin C, which helps to lower your cholesterol naturally. There are also other nutrients 
found in oranges that can be good for you, including folate, antioxidants, and flavonoids. 
Keep in mind that if you want regular oranges, they are very low in fat and calories. With 
orange juice, it is often has added sugar, so be careful about choosing bottled orange 
juice. It is much better than to make your own. 

5 Ways to Use Orange Juice

If you would rather drink your oranges than eat them, there are many ways to do that. 
Here are five options for using orange juice daily:

Add the juice of an orange plus the orange slices to a pitcher of water for fruit-infused 
water.
Add orange juice to a fruit smoothie, replacing water or other liquids with it.
During the holidays, make cranberry sauce with cranberries and orange juice.
Juice oranges with other fruits that go well with it, like blueberries and apples. 
Squeeze orange juice onto your fish or chicken for a fun and tangy kick.

Garlic

There are also quite a few herbs, seasonings, and spices that can be included in the 
superfoods group. One of them that is helpful for high blood pressure and cholesterol is 
garlic. Garlic has sulfur, which can help reduce inflammation in your body, which is often 
what occurs to your arteries when you have high blood pressure that isn’t being treated. 
Garlic is also packed full of other nutrients, so it is good for you all around. Plus, it tastes 
delicious!

Foods That Taste Great With Garlic

Here is an idea of some food options that will taste even better when you add garlic:

Chicken or other poultry
Fish prior to grilling or broiling
Red meat like beef and pork
Roasted vegetables
Mashed potatoes or mashed cauliflower
Whole grain or brown rice

Bananas

When you have high blood pressure or cholesterol, you are often told to switch to a 
healthy diet. This frequently includes adding more fruit to your diet. A superfood fruit you 
should consider enjoying daily is bananas. Bananas have lots of potassium, which can 
help reduce your risk of a stroke and lower your blood pressure naturally. They are low 
in sodium and moderate in their sugar amount. 

Tips For Eating More Bananas

If you are not in the practice of eating bananas, here are some tips for adding them to 
your diet each and every day:

Have at least one banana a day, even if you just eat it as a snack.
Make it more flavorful with honey, peanut butter, or almond butter.
Add banana slices to your bowl of cold cereal or hot oatmeal.
Freeze bananas and use them in your smoothies.
Make chocolate-covered bananas by freezing them and covering in dark chocolate with 
a little sea salt.
Add banana slices to the top of your toast.
Make low-carb pancakes with bananas. 
Use bananas to create ‘nice cream’ that doesn’t include any dairy.

Olive Oil

As you already know, healthy fats are good for you and should be added to your diet as 
much as you can. Olive oil is a good healthy fat and should replace the less healthy 
options like vegetable oil or canola oil. It is also good for replacing butter and lard in 
your diet. 

Olive oil contains plenty of antioxidants, plus omega-3 fatty acids. All of this helps with 
both your cholesterol and blood pressure.

4 Ways to Use More Olive Oil

If you are accustomed to other types of oil, you might not know what you can do with 
olive oil. Here are four different options:

Make a light salad dressing with olive oil and vinegar.
Stir-fry vegetables and chicken or fish in olive oil.
Make your fried eggs with olive oil instead of butter.
Drizzle olive oil and garlic on vegetables before roasting them.

Green Tea

Some superfoods for high blood pressure and cholesterol are things you can drink, not 
eat. One of them is green tea. With green tea, it includes compounds that can actually 
help to prevent bad cholesterol from building in your body. It also contains nutrients like 
vitamins B and C, folic acid, B-carotene, and amino acids. By drinking 3-5 cups of green 
tea a day, you severely lower your risk for having a stroke. 

Ideas For Flavoring Green Tea

If you don’t like the flavor of plain green tea, there are plenty of ways to add more flavor 
and actually make it fun to drink. Here are some options:

Steep the green tea with fruit, like strawberries or peaches.
Add lemon wedges to your cup of tea for some sweetness.
Drizzle a little bit of honey into the tea.
Add sugar in small quantities. 

Salmon

Lastly, let’s talk about salmon. This is a cold water, fatty fish that is filled with omega-3 
fatty acids. This makes it a healthy fat and one of the best things you can eat. It helps to 
reduce inflammation, help with blood pressure and cholesterol, and is also low in fat as 
an added bonus. It is recommended that you have 2-3 servings of salmon or other fatty 
fish every week.

Not a huge fan of salmon? Don’t worry, it is easy to add it to your diet and have 
scrumptious meals at the same time. You can make yourself a salmon filet with your 
favorite veggies and lots of garlic, or you can grill the salmon and add it to your salads.

