Did you know that spices, in addition to enhancing flavor in many dishes, also have many other benefits? For example, some spices can lower high blood pressure. As you know, this problem overtakes a large number of people around the world. For example, in Ukraine, one in four has high blood pressure — and during the off-season, especially between autumn and winter. When the body suffers not only from the change of seasons, but also from a decrease in immunity and a lack of vitamins, this is especially felt.
Fortunately, sometimes salvation from high blood pressure can be found right “at hand” — well, or somewhere on the shelf of your own kitchen, and it is not necessary to immediately run to the pharmacy for a lot of medicines. We have prepared a selection of spices that can help reduce blood pressure, as well as how you can easily include them in your diet, combining good with good.
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Cardamom
Cardamom is an essential ingredient in many Asian and Middle Eastern cuisines. This spice is sweet in taste, many note its resemblance to mint.
Cardamom, as a well-known spice among hypertensive patients, has two important properties: it is rich in antioxidants and has diuretic properties. Studies have shown that this spice plays an important role in lowering blood pressure: it is due to the fact that it removes excess fluid from the body, especially around the heart, that cardamom lowers blood pressure levels. Patients who ate 3 grams of this spice noted a decrease in mean pressure.
Cardamom is good because it is a versatile spice: it can be added to any dish. With us, most likely, you can find it in pastries: buns, cookies, gingerbread, pancakes or pancakes. And it is almost always found in oriental sweets: baklava, Turkish delight, eggplant jam or waffle rolls.
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This spice is probably familiar to you, especially in winter: almost no sweet pastry or warming drink can do without it. Cinnamon has a sweet taste, but it also has a spicy note, which adds to its piquancy.
The fact is that scientists have come to the conclusion that cinnamon, in addition to its taste, also has the ability to lower blood pressure, and significantly. The ideal dose of eating spice in food is one to two teaspoons per day (3–6 grams).
Cinnamon is incredibly easy to add to your daily diet, and this is its main advantage. Moreover, the choice is wide: you can season cereals for breakfast with cinnamon, add it to baked apples, bake cinnamon buns — the list is very long, but taking care of your health is not only easy, but also pleasant.
Ginger
Another no less popular seasoning that can be found very easily on the shelves of grocery stores. This tool has long gained fame in alternative medicine.
Both human and animal studies have shown that taking ginger lowers blood pressure in several ways. It acts as a natural calcium channel blocker and dilates blood vessels. Calcium channel blockers are one type of medicine for high blood pressure.
Most likely, you saw ginger in roll sets: the spice is so fond of fans of Japanese cuisine that it is often eaten without anything else. Moreover, it is also added to chicken, fish, stewed vegetables. The spice can also be found in drinks, such as ginger tea, which at the same time boosts immunity.
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Garlic
This spice is probably the easiest to find on this list, as it is present in almost everyone’s home. Moreover, its effect from prevalence does not decrease at all, but rather the opposite.
Garlic contains allicin, a substance that has antibacterial, antioxidant, lipid-lowering, and antihypertensive properties. Garlic has the ability to lower blood pressure by helping blood vessels relax and dilate, allowing blood to flow more freely in the body. Studies have proven that fresh garlic has stronger heart-protective properties than processed garlic.
Doctors recommend eating 3–4 heads of garlic (4 grams) daily to significantly reduce blood pressure. It is good because it often does not require any specific recipes: you can eat it yourself. But it will be a great addition to meat, vegetables, sauces and various breads and rolls, as well as preservation.
Remember: before using any spices for medicinal purposes, it is always better to consult a doctor, and if the health problems are especially serious, it is always better to consult a specialist to prevent the consequences, as sometimes the disease requires more serious intervention. We hope that our advice will help you.
Author: Olga Prokopenko
