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Akinola Olusegun
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Hypertension, or high blood pressure, is the most common preventable risk factor for heart disease. A shocking 16 million people in the UK suffer from high blood pressure with lifestyle interventions either helping or hindering the condition. One type of fruit has been proven to help lower your readings and reduce hypertension risk.
Experts praise citrus for their powerful blood-pressure-lowering effects.
Citrus fruits, which include grapefruit, oranges and lemons, are loaded with vitamins, minerals and plant compounds which help keep the heart healthy and lower hypertension risk.
Citrus fruits are often reported to be foods which are beneficial for health.
The lemon, a representative citrus fruit, includes bioactive components such as citric acid, polyphenol, and ascorbic acid, and it is reported that there are various health benefits
Studies show that drinking orange and grapefruit juice may help lower a person's blood pressure readings.
One study published in the National Library of Health looked at the effect of daily lemon ingestion on blood pressure readings.
"Several studies highlighted lemon as an important health-promoting fruit rich in phenolic compounds as well as vitamins, minerals, dietary fibres, essential oils, and carotenoids," began the study.
"The suppressive effect of lemon juice and its crude flavonoid on blood pressure has been reported in hypertensive rats.
"The water extract of lemon peels also had a suppressive effect on blood pressure.
"These results suggest that lemon ingestion have the effect of lowering systolic blood pressure by, respectively, different action mechanisms."
Citrus fruits are bursting with vitamin C with many studies suggesting that people who get lots of vitamin C in their diet may reduce their risk of developing high blood pressure.
Experts recommend drinking the juice as it's loaded with other compounds which may reduce blood pressure or eat the whole fruit for some extra fibre along with the vitamin C.
Citrus paradisi juice, from grapefruit, has many beneficial properties and is a good source of vitamin C, pectin fibre, and antioxidants.
When compared, grapefruit juice produced a greater decrease in mean arterial pressure than orange juice.
Numerous studies have indicated that fruits can help manage blood pressure through a wide variety of mechanisms and should play a major role in an antihypertensive dietary intervention.
A single-blind randomised crossover study of 22 healthy patients aged 18–59 showed that after drinking 500 ml/day of commercial citrus sinensis juice, blood pressure had decreased, while natural orange juice did not show significant effects.
Other lifestyle interventions to reduce hypertension risk include cutting back on alcohol and caffeine, exercising regularly, and losing weight if you're overweight.
Do note that caffeine can be found in coffee, tea, fizzy and energy drinks, and chocolate.
The NHS also recommends not smoking, as this can greatly increase the risk of a stroke or heart attack.
If you start implementing this lifestyle advice, you should start to see a difference in your blood pressure readings.
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