My wife is on the brink of high blood pressure (165/105). She is only 48, works out regularly and is in good shape with no cholesterol problems. I'm generally the cook/griller of the house, so I need to make some adjustments to our diet to hopefully reverse direction. We are checking sodium on every label and using salt substitutes now. There are plenty of good ingredients (ex. beets) that help control/reduce high blood pressure, but I just haven't cooked much with these on a consistent basis. I could use some TA expertise on making really flavorful food that doesn't exacerbate high blood pressure (and ultimately results in lower BP). Please share any go-to recipes that are heart-healthy.

Not sure how much you embibe but cutting down alcohol helped me

Buy salt free seasonings
Veggies. A lot.

Stay on the perimeter of the grocery store. Avoid anything out of a box.

Salt and sodium are not the same thing. The majority of sodium in most Americans' diets does not come from salt. It from preservatives and breads/pastries.

Sodium benzoate is a preservative in all kinds of things from sodas to salad dressings, sodium nitrite is in all the cured and processed meats, like bacon and deli meats, and what we call baking soda is sodium bicarbonate, which is in pretty much every kind of bread, dough, and pastry.

There's lots of others, but those are some of the big ones. The biggest thing you can do is buy and cook fresh ingredients. Fresh meats. Fresh vegetables. Fresh fruits. Cutting out the preservatives from your every day meals wherever possible, and cutting down on breads will do FAR more than cutting down on salt use.

Anything that is prepackaged, pre-prepared, bottled, canned, or in any way shelf stable for longer than a week or so probably has a significant amount of sodium in it.

Check out www.inspiralized.com and www.skinnytaste.com

Thanks, I will try that this evening.

I was going to add that vinegar is a great way to amplify flavors without use by as much salt. White and red wine vinegars and citrus juices are good. In all honesty, acid should be used in conjunction with salt often for seasoning.

Made some fantastic red snapper tonight w/virtually no salt, just good seasonings.

Bought a fresh snapper at the local seafood market in Seabrook, had them scale, filet w/skin-on (about 3#'s total). Placed the filets in a baking dish, seasoned w/garlic powder cayenne, salt-free lemon pepper & salt-free Tony's & nu-salt (potassium chloride). Covered & set in refrigerator for a couple hours.

When it was time, heated a large pan w/grapeseed oil & a couple tbsp's unsalted butter. Cooked skin side down w/skillet cover on. Added some paprika & more salt-free lemon pepper. Turn them over for a few minutes, then back on the skin-side down while spooning all of the butter over the top.

I made a jumbo lump crab & mushroom cream sauce (no salt ingredients) and poured it over the top.

Major Hit! Served w/grilled veggies & a small salad.

We've been trying to stick w/these types of meals w/healthy snacks in between (veggies, berries, yogurr) and her BP has steadily been coming down. This morning was 125/86. Like I said in the OP, she exercises daily, is fit, so we were really alarmed when her BP was so high. We'll keep at this sort-of diet, but any recipes from TA is always welcome.

Burn-It said:

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Made some fantastic red snapper tonight w/virtually no salt, just good seasonings.

Bought a fresh snapper at the local seafood market in Seabrook, had them scale, filet w/skin-on (about 3#'s total). Placed the filets in a baking dish, seasoned w/garlic powder cayenne, salt-free lemon pepper & salt-free Tony's & nu-salt (potassium chloride). Covered & set in refrigerator for a couple hours.

When it was time, heated a large pan w/grapeseed oil & a couple tbsp's unsalted butter. Cooked skin side down w/skillet cover on. Added some paprika & more salt-free lemon pepper. Turn them over for a few minutes, then back on the skin-side down while spooning all of the butter over the top.

I made a jumbo lump crab & mushroom cream sauce (no salt ingredients) and poured it over the top.

Major Hit! Served w/grilled veggies & a small salad.

We've been trying to stick w/these types of meals w/healthy snacks in between (veggies, berries, yogurr) and her BP has steadily been coming down. This morning was 125/86. Like I said in the OP, she exercises daily, is fit, so we were really alarmed when her BP was so high. We'll keep at this sort-of diet, but any recipes from TA is always welcome.

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I will say, too much potassium (if replacing salt) in the diet may show up on and EKG (like abnormal EKG), so keep that mind...

I switched to a plant-based diet in early December. My Systolic BP dropped 20mm within a week long before I started to lose weight (I know that's not your issue). Today, I'll eat a little seafood every now and then, but, continuing to eat primarily whole-food, plant-based. Current BP is around 110/70. I haven't thought about salt once. Plants just don't need much and consumption reduces itself.

bigtruckguy3500 said:

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165/105 is high blood pressure. She should be on medication if it is consistently in that range. 140/90 is the classic definition of high blood pressure, and there's some evidence that we should lower it to 130/85.

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So much this.

There is no such thing and normal, prehypetensive, and hypertensive. You're either too high or you're not. She is.

Something to keep in mind is that this can be genetic too, and changing her diet won't help. I lost 50 pounds, and my blood pressure was good when I started losing weight and didn't budge. Same with my cholesterol.

So far, we have seen good results with severely limiting sodium intake and adding more fresh vegetables and lean proteins. Snacks are generally yogurt & fresh fruit. We have stayed away from all processed foods and are eating at home alot more than we used to.