If you have heart problems, bad cholesterol, or high blood pressure, the best way to improve your health is to change your lifestyle, lose weight, increase your physical activity and eat healthier.  A great way to do this is by avoiding fatty meats, full-fat dairy products, refined and processed foods, salt and sugar. Also, you must make sure to eat more fruits and vegetables, grains and whole foods.

What you eat can have a profound impact on your blood pressure and cholesterol.  You don’t have to live off of seeds, wheatgrass and alfalfa sprouts to make a difference; it is actually quite simple. Almost every grocery store in America now carries countless food alternatives for whatever ails you.

To begin with, let’s review the foods that are good for reducing your blood pressure:

Eat the following potassium-rich foods:

		Honeydew, cantaloupe, or watermelon	Apricots
		Prunes	Banana
		Lean veal	Pumpkin
		Lima beans	Spinach
		Sardines	Cod – not processed
		Milk – low-fat	Stewed tomatoes
		Potatoes	Orange juice
		Peas	Flounder
		Sweet potatoes	Green beans
		Peaches	Potatoes
		Squash – winter is best
		Yogurt – low-fat

Eat the following magnesium-rich foods:

		Beans and legumes	Okra
		Broccoli	Oysters
		Spinach	Chard
		Tofu	Croaker
		Scallops	Whole grains
		Mackerel	Nuts & Seeds

Eat the following calcium-rich foods:

		Broccoli	Perch
		Turnip greens	Tofu
		Cheese – but only low-fat cheeses	Salmon
		Dairy products – only low-fat	Almonds
		Barley	Bran
		Brazil nuts	Brown rice
		Brussel sprouts	Cabbage
		Carrots	Cauliflower
		Coconut	Corn meal
		Egg yolks (no more than 1-2 per week)	Figs
		Hazelnuts (filberts)	Leafy greens
		Kelp	Lentils
		Millet	Oats
		Prunes	Rye seeds
		Sesame seeds	Soy milk
		Watercress	Whole wheat

Other good foods to help lower your blood pressure:

		Asparagus	Celery
		Currants	Chocolate
		Dandelion	Garlic
		Onion	Kiwi
		Mangos

Avoid the following foods:

• Any foods with salt, soda, sodium or MSG
• Canned veggies, unless sodium-free
• Toothpaste containing saccharin or baking soda
• Diet soda
• Sugar substitutes
• Soy sauce

If you are trying to avoid meats, you can find soy-based meats for almost any kind of meat including hotdogs, ribs, burgers, chicken wings, turkey and even duck.  Some of them taste pretty good, especially if you prepare them like you would a regular meat product, but always check the sodium content.  For an entire day, you never want to consume more than 2,400 mg of sodium.

If you are trying to avoid refined and processed snacks, there are dozens of products that are made with whole grains and taste like the original product without the extra fat, sugar and salt.  Many of them even come organic.

If you are trying to avoid traditional dairy products, try products made from almonds, grains, or soy.  Whole Foods, Trader Joes and most health food stores have a wide variety of products, ranging from vegetarian milks to cheese, to choose from.

If you are trying to avoid eggs, whether they are for eating or baking, you’ve got many choices.  They include:

• Applesauce for baking (3 tablespoons applesauce = 1 egg)
• Bananas for baking (1/2 banana blended or well mashed = 1 egg)
• Egg substitutes such as Orgran’s ‘Egg substitute mix’
• Ener-G Egg Replacer - by Ener-G Foods; free of gluten, wheat, casein, dairy, egg, yeast, soy, nuts and rice,  is an excellent choice for baking
• Tofu (1/4 cup blended soft or silken tofu = 1 egg).  You can also scramble tofu, which has its own unique flavor and texture (depending upon spices and preparation) that might even exceed your expectations.

Here are my favorite food alternatives:

• Milk:  Try rice or soy milk (SILK brand is delicious!)
• Butter:  Try Earth Balance Buttery Sticks
• Ice cream:  Try Rice Divine rice ice cream
• Cheese:  Try FYH Mozzarella (non-dairy)
• Yogurt:  Try non-fat Greek plain yogurt or plain soy yogurt
• Meat:  Try baked tofu or seitan
• Oils: replace saturated and trans-fats with olive, canola and other natural oils
• Eggs: Try egg substitutes or egg whites for eating and “Egg Replacer” for baking
• Sugar: Try Stevia for coffee, and for baking, replace conventional white sugar with maple sugar or natural sugar brand such as Sucunat.
• Mayonnaise: Try FYH Vegenaise.  You won’t know the difference!

Everything is about eating in balance.