Suffering with high blood pressure symptoms? Eating chocolate could lower it
HIGH blood pressure - also known as hypertension - affects 16 million people in the UK, and experts currently recommend people can reduce symptoms by exercising regularly, reducing sodium intake and limiting alcohol.
But new research says adding in particular types of foods could help.
A study by the University of Hertfordshire found that eating foods high in the mineral magnesium can lower your risk of hypertension.
Magnesium-rich foods include dark chocolate, milk chocolate, almonds, brazil nuts and avocados, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
In the research published in the World Journal of Cardiovascular Disease they found that people with higher than average blood pressure often had a magnesium deficiency.
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The findings suggest that taking a magnesium supplement or having magnesium-rich foods in your diet could help ward off hypertension.
It’s believed it helps lower blood pressure by helping the body to regulate blood flow.
The findings suggest that taking a magnesium supplement or having magnesium-rich foods in your diet could help ward off the condition.
This would in turn reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke.
They also found magnesium intake was lower among older people.
Lead researcher Lindsy Kass, said: “Magnesium is a key factor in blood pressure regulation and our study suggests that not only can low dietary magnesium intake lead to hypertension but that worryingly, dietary magnesium intake is at lower than currently recommended levels across the board.
“Though recommended levels in the US are higher than the UK, the real issue lies with dietary intake and not with the recommendations themselves.”
In the UK the recommended daily intake of magnesium is 300mg for men and 270mg for women.
The latter is the equivalent of eating ten small bananas a day, or 200g of dark chocolate.
Doctor: Many people have high blood pressure and are unaware
Kass added: “It is important to understand how dietary magnesium impacts blood pressure as that way we can push initiatives to increase knowledge and awareness of this micronutrient, which may help to reduce blood pressure in the UK and subsequently save the NHS money on costly drug intervention.”
“Figures show that by reducing the blood pressure of the nation as a whole, £850 million of NHS and social care costs could be avoided over 10 years.”
“Further, if 15 per cent more people currently being treated for high blood pressure could control it better a further £120 million could be saved.”
A recent study by Bristol University also found middle-aged men with higher levels of magnesium halved their chances of breaking a bone in the next 25 years.
Additionally, it can help you sleep by relaxing your muscles and reducing levels of the stress hormone cortisol in your body.
