Heart Health – Milk and Blood Pressure
You may not think about milk when you think about controlling your blood pressure, but clinical trials have shown that including 3 servings of nonfat or low fat dairy products daily, helps keep blood pressure within normal range. This provides about 1000 milligrams of calcium daily.
Dietary sources of calcium (in milligrams):
8 ounces low fat fruit yogurt, 300 milligrams
1.5 ounces cheddar cheese, 306 milligrams
8 ounces 1% milk, 302 milligrams
1 cup 1% fat cottage cheese, 138 milligrams
1/2 cup frozen yogurt, 103 milligrams
1 cup kale, 94 milligrams
1/2 cup broccoli, 21 milligrams
It’s okay to add some flavoring to milk if you don’t love downing plain white milk. A glass of chocolate milk is a perfect post-workout drink, or afternoon-pick-me-up. Getting your calcium from dietary sources is your goal, but you can ask your doctor about taking a calcium supplement. For more information about the heart health and the DASH diet, check out our cookbook!
