Drink These To Lower High Blood Pressure and Support Heart Health | 3 Healthy Drinks

Hey y'all! Welcome back to my channel. If you are new here, my name is Kayla and welcome. So in today's video, I'm sharing three drink recipes that you can make at home that are great for your overall heart health and may even help to lower high blood pressure if you drink them consistently. Now of course, you always want to get to the root cause of it and change your diet and lifestyle, but these three drinks do contain certain compounds that can be very beneficial to your cardiovascular system. And they have loads of other health benefits as well, especially for your skin, immune system, and even your liver because they're loaded with antioxidants, polyphenols, phytonutrients, vitamins, and minerals. So even if you don't have high blood pressure or cardiovascular issues, these drinks are still going to be wonderful for your overall health. And as the famous saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So flooding your body with all of these beneficial compounds and nutrients on a regular basis is really just gonna set your body up for optimal wellness. As always, I have all three drink recipes listed over on the blog post where you can print out the recipe card. I'm gonna have that linked for y'all in the description box below. And if you're a health nerd like me, I've gone a little bit more in detail on the health benefits of these drinks and even listed some of the studies for y'all. But anyway, let's head to the kitchen and get started. The first drink I'll be making today is this blueberry beet juice. Of course, the star ingredient in this juice recipe is beets. You'll need five to six bulbs. Go ahead and peel them and then roughly chop them up. But beets contain naturally occurring nitrates that get converted to nitric oxide in the body whenever consumed. And this boost in nitric oxide may help to improve overall blood flow, which is actually why athletes have been known to drink beet juice in order to enhance their performance. So nitric oxide is a vasodilator, which means that it relaxes and dilates the blood vessels and arteries. And this in turn allows for better blood flow. And I have listed a couple of studies on this over on the blog post. Beets are also a good source of potassium, which is an important mineral that can also help to relax the walls of your blood vessels, allowing for improved blood flow. So regular consumption of beets and beet juice may help to improve blood pressure levels. But beets are so much more than that. They can also help to fight inflammation, improve brain function, increase your intake of folate, manganese and copper, and they even have cancer fighting properties. I'm also adding two cups of fresh blueberries to this juice to boost the antioxidants, vitamin C and flavonoids. Of course, don't forget to rinse them first. I like to soak them in some baking soda water for about 10 minutes. Now this is optional, but today I'm also going to add in a to not only bump up the vitamin C levels, but also to support overall digestion. Pineapples actually contain a group of powerful digestive enzymes called bromelain. So by adding the pineapple, it's really going to bump up our digestion to ensure that we absorb all the beneficial compounds in this juice recipe. And now it's as simple as running these foods through your juicer. I'm going to be using my brand new slow juicer today from Namowell, but any type of works. And if you don't have a juicer, don't worry. You can add these foods to a blender along with three to four cups of water, blend it until it's smooth, and then strain the juice through a nut milk bag or a mesh strainer. And if you want to thin it out a little bit and make it go further, you can also add in one cucumber. Then I'm adding in the juice from two lemons. This not only adds more flavor and tartness, but it also helps to preserve the juice. Give that a good mix and feel free to scoop out the foamy part on top if you want to, but personally, I like to keep it. And don't let that pulp go to waste. What I like to do is add it to ice trays with a splash of water, freeze it, and then add them to my smoothies for extra fiber. All right, let's transfer it to a glass storage jar. And this is going to last in the fridge for up to five days and in the freezer for up to one month. Just make sure if you freeze it, you put it in a freezer friendly container. And if you want to work this juice into your meal prep routine or take them on the go, you can go ahead and pre-portion them out into individual bottles. But this blueberry beet juice is not only super healthy, but it also tastes amazing. Next up, we're going to make a homemade pomegranate juice. You'll need three cups of pomegranate arils. Now, of course, you can use a whole pomegranate and remove the arils yourself, but to speed things up, I found some frozen pomegranate arils at my local Sprouts, so I'm going to use these today. Now, if you use frozen, make sure you let them defrost in the fridge overnight. But pomegranate juice may help to lower blood pressure by inhibiting an enzyme that naturally occurs in the body called angiotensin converting enzyme, also known as ACE. And this produces angiotensin II, a substance that can constrict your blood vessels, causing the heart to work harder, and it can lead to high blood pressure. This is why ACE inhibitors are very common in the medical world when it comes to lowering blood pressure because they help to relax the veins and arteries, leading to better blood flow. And in some studies, pomegranate juice has been shown to act as a natural ACE inhibitor, and therefore, it may help to lower mild to moderate blood pressure with regular consumption. So I just added my pomegranate arils to the blender and blended it for about 10 seconds, long enough to release the juice, but you don't want to over blend it. And then I'm using my nut milk bag to strain the juice. Super simple process. Now, of course, you can also use a juicer for this, but I've personally found that the blender method yields more liquid. And to top it off, I'm adding the juice from two lemons and then transfer the juice to a glass jar or to your individual to-go bottles. But pomegranate juice is so beneficial to your health. In addition to benefiting your cardiovascular system, it's also loaded with antioxidants and polyphenols, which may help to fight inflammation, disease, and boost immunity. And if you're able to find cold-pressed pomegranate juice at your local grocery store, that's also a great option, especially on those weeks that you don't have time to make it homemade. But I found this farm dog brand at my local HEB for all my Texas folks out there. And all you need is about half a cup per day to start reaping all the amazing health benefits. And the last drink we're making today is this delicious homemade hibiscus tea. This one is so good and refreshing served over ice in the summertime. Okay, you're going to need one cup of high-quality dried hibiscus. Add it to a bowl with a spout or to a pitcher. And fun fact, hibiscus is actually a flower. And it contains an antioxidant called anthocyanin, which may play a role in lowering mild to moderate blood pressure by helping your blood vessels resist damage that can cause them to narrow. So it's a great preventative measure as well. I linked a study over on the blog that showed participants who drank two cups of hibiscus tea every day for a month had a significant reduction in blood pressure compared to the control group. But of course, as with most natural remedies, more research needs to be done to further establish these connections and understand the correlations. So I'm adding four cups of water to a saucepan over high heat, along with half a cup of granulated sweetener. I'm using birch xylitol today, but you can also use monk fruit or even coconut palm sugar. And sometimes I'll use honey, but if you're going to use honey, you'll want to wait to add that later in the process. All right, right before the water breaks a boil, remove it from the heat and then pour it into the bowl or pitcher with the dried hibiscus. Cover it with a lid and let it steep for 20 minutes. Once it's done, give it a good stir and then strain the liquid into a pitcher. And if you're using honey to sweeten it, you'll want to add it in at this point. Just make sure you stir it in until it's fully dissolved. And then let's top it off with four more cups of either room temperature or cold water. And this is optional, but I also like to add in the juice from two limes. And then you'll want to place it in the fridge to chill. But hibiscus tea has far more health benefits than just improving your blood pressure. It's also very high in vitamin C, polyphenols, and phytochemicals. It contains anti-inflammatory properties. It may help to reduce blood lipid levels and help to control blood sugar levels. If you love iced teas, you'll definitely want to try this one. Well, all right y'all, that is it for today's video. Three healthy drink recipes that are great for your overall heart health and may even help to lower high blood pressure. Don't forget, I have the recipes listed over on the blog post where you can print them off and read more about the health benefits. I'm going to have that linked for y'all in the description box below. And also don't forget, if you make any of my recipes or my meal preps, you can tag me over on Instagram and I will reshare that on my stories. Of course, if you enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs up, share it with your friends and family. If you haven't subscribed to my channel yet and you enjoy this type of content, healthy recipes, meal preps, lifestyle advice, all that good stuff, be sure to hit that subscribe button below. But that's it for today. I'll see y'all in the next video. Bye.