If a person has high blood pressure in the arteries of the lungs and heart, the condition is called pulmonary arterial hypertension or PAH. It is a chronic condition requiring medication and treatment throughout one’s life. Treatment can help reduce symptoms and a patient’s improve quality of life. Food plays a big role in aggravating the condition, and these tips can help plan your meals for pulmonary arterial hypertension.

1. Reduce Salt in Food
Reducing salt is one of the basic rules of PAH meal plans. Salt leads to water retention, making the heart work harder to flush out the fluids, increasing blood pressure. Reducing salt in the food you cook is important. You can also cut down on the intake of processed food and snacks. They contain hidden salts that increase hypertension. If you need to buy packed or processed food, look for low-sodium products.

2. Have Just Two Cups of Coffee a Day
Caffeine is a stimulant and causes a surge in blood pressure immediately after you drink it. Restrict yourself to one or two small cups of coffee as per the recommendation of experts. More than that can cause a steady increase in blood pressure.

3. Increase Vitamin C Consumption
Iron is crucial to increase the amount of oxygen in the blood, and vitamin C helps absorb the iron. Vitamin C is available in a range of food, including citrus fruits, tomatoes, Indian gooseberry, pineapple, broccoli and red and yellow peppers. Having one food item rich in vitamin C daily helps fight pulmonary arterial hypertension.

4. Increase Anti-inflammatory Food Intake
Lycopene, flavonoids and antioxidants can increase blood flow by making the blood vessels more elastic and flexible. Effective anti-inflammatory foods include berries, olive oil, watermelon. Omega-3 fatty acids have anti-inflammatory properties. Foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids are mackerel, salmon, cod liver, sardines, walnuts, seaweed, chia, flax and hemp seeds, kidney beans and soybean oil.

5. Drink in Moderation
Like caffeine, alcohol can cause surges in blood pressure levels, which worsens pulmonary arterial hypertension symptoms. Two drinks per day for men and one for women is the permissible limits for women. This translates to 355 milliliters of beer, 148 milliliters of wine or 44 milliliters of hard liquor or distilled spirits.

6. Demineralize With Vitamin K
Minerals may clog our arteries slowing down blood flow. Vitamin K can prevent such build-up of minerals. Known sources of vitamin-K-rich food are leafy green vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, spinach, kale and Swiss chard. Include them at least thrice a week to prevent mineral build-up in the arteries.

Apart from watching your nutrition, maintain a positive attitude and engage in very mild physical activity that keeps pulmonary arterial hypertension at bay. Heavy exercise can increase hypertension and should be avoided.