The Short Answer: Eat More Fruits and Vegetables!
Fruits and vegetables are full of vitamins, minerals, and fibre to keep you in good health. They also contain Potassium, which helps balance out the negative effects of salt. This has a direct effect on your blood pressure, helping to lower it.
Easy Daily Potassium Portions:
You should try to eat at least 5 different portions of fruit and vegetables per day. A portion is roughly the size of your fist. Here are some ideas to get you going:
A dessert bowl of salad
Three heaped tablespoons of vegetables
Three heaped tablespoons of pulses (chickpeas, lentils, beans)
One medium-sized fruit (apple, orange, pear or banana)
Three smaller fruits (plums, grapes or strawberries)
One slice of a large fruit (melon, pineapple or mango)
A glass (240ml) of fresh fruit or vegetable juice
One tablespoon of dried fruit
Other Tips to increase your fruit and vegetable intake:
Add a banana to your breakfast cereal or have mashed avocado and sliced tomato on your bread in the morning.
If you’re having eggs for breakfast, you can build more flavour by cooking it with tomatoes, bell pepper (hoho), onions, mushrooms or spinach.
At lunch and dinner make sure you include at least two portions of vegetables.
Add grated or chopped vegetables to sauces, soups and stews.
If making minced meat stew, replace some of the meat with lentils.