What's the Best Diet to Lower Blood Pressure?

What you’ll eat: Short for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, DASH provides plenty of blood-pressure-lowering potassium, calcium, magnesium, and fiber from fruits, vegetables, beans, and nuts, and some fish, poultry, and low-fat dairy.

How effective is it? DASH has the most evidence behind it. Studies show it lowers blood pressure in those with and without hypertension, even without cutting sodium. But a low-sodium DASH diet (1,500 mg daily) is better than DASH or a low-sodium diet alone.

What you’ll eat: Rich in vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, beans, and healthy fats, this way of eating doesn’t specifically limit sodium. It’s high in potassium and antioxidants that help with blood pressure by protecting against blood vessel damage.

How effective is it? Most of the research is on its overall heart benefits. But a 2022 review in Reviews in Cardiovascular Medicine found that it helped reduce blood pressure by 3.1 points systolic and 1.6 points diastolic compared with a regular diet.

What you’ll eat: This diet focuses on cholesterol-lowering foods, especially nuts, soluble fiber (barley, oats, apples, avocado, beans, peas, lentils), soy protein, and plant sterols, which are fat compounds found in plants.

How effective is it? A 2018 analysis in Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases found that when compared with a standard cholesterol-lowering diet, this plan dropped systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 1 percent and 2 percent, respectively.