Lower Cholesterol And Regulate High Blood Pressure with this Healing Cucumber & Garlic Salad

Over 70 million adults in the United States alone suffer from high blood pressure.

High blood pressure is when your blood pressure (the force of your blood pushing against the walls of your blood vessels), is consistently too high (1). It is also the most important risk factor for stroke and heart disease.

High blood pressure essentially increases the workload of the heart and blood vessels, making them work harder and less efficiently. The friction of the high blood pressure damages the delicate tissues inside the arteries, and this allows for LDL (bad) cholesterol to form plaques along the tiny tears of the artery walls (this is how atherosclerosis starts).

Stress, poor diet, and physical inactivity can increase your risk of developing high blood pressure. Reduce sodium intake, minimize meat consumption, devise ways to reduce stress in your life, and get out for a walk at least once a day.

Pressure-Regulating Foods

There are also foods that help with regulating blood pressure. Cucumbers contain adequate amounts of potassium, which can help balance sodium levels in your cells (a major cause of high blood pressure).

Cucumbers are also a relatively good source of fibre, which in itself can provide significant reductions in blood pressure levels and cholesterol (2). Fibre also helps with preventing type 2 diabetes and boosts weight loss.

Garlic is another miracle worker in terms of the blood and heart. Some reports have been made that the anti-hypertensive effect of garlic was equal if not more powerful than that seen with anti-hypertensive drugs.

A study at the Brown University School of Medicine revealed that men with high cholesterol levels can lower this blood pressure and reduce cholesterol simply by supplementing with aged garlic extract.

Garlic helps stimulate intracellular nitric oxide (NO) levels, which helps out body control vascular tone and regulates blood pressure (3).

Healing Cucumber & Garlic Salad Recipe

Ingredients:

– 1 long english cucumber
– 2 cloves garlic, crushed
– 1/4 of a small onion
– 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
– 1/2 tsp. maple syrup or sweetener of choice
– optional: a little bit of dill

Method:

1. Thinly slice the cucumber and put into a bowl.
2. Add the crushed garlic, and then add some thinly sliced onion.
3. Add in apple cider vinegar, sweetener and a little bit of dill if you please. Enjoy!