The #1 Protein to Help Lower Your Blood Pressure

Your heart is arguably the hardest-working muscle in your body. Every day it pumps nearly 2,000 gallons of blood through your arteries to supply the oxygen and nutrients you need to function properly. With each heartbeat blood is pushed through your blood vessels, creating pressure on the walls of your arteries. This is referred to as your blood pressure.

For nearly 120 million Americans—about 48% of adults—this pressure is higher than normal, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. If left unchecked, prolonged high blood pressure—known as hypertension—can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke.

Thankfully, there are steps you can take to keep your blood pressure under control. One of them is aligning your eating habits with a diet called Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension or DASH. The DASH diet emphasizes consuming plant foods—including fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds, healthy fats and whole grains—as well as low-fat and nonfat dairy products, fish and lean meats. Out of all the protein sources the DASH diet highlights, one ranks at the top.

Our choice as the top protein for lowering blood pressure is white beans. Besides being relatively accessible and affordable, hearty white beans are filled with several noteworthy nutrients that help lower blood pressure. Here are the primary ones.

Pictured recipe: Spinach Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, White Beans & Basil

Health Benefits of White Beans

Potassium

If there is one mineral that is revered for its ability to aid in blood pressure control, it is potassium. According to the American Heart Association, adequate potassium intake lessens the potential blood-pressure-raising effects of excess sodium. Specifically, potassium prompts your kidneys to remove excess sodium through urine—and helps to lower blood pressure by improving fluid balance and relaxing blood vessel walls.

Unfortunately, many people fall short of the recommended 4,700 milligrams of potassium per day. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans has declared potassium a nutrient of public health concern. This is a fancy way of saying that most of us aren’t getting enough. The good news is that 1/2 cup of cooked white beans contains an impressive 500 mg of potassium, which is 11% of the Daily Value, according to the USDA.

Magnesium

The mighty mineral magnesium also plays an important role in blood pressure regulation. Similar to potassium, a 2022 study published in Cureus found that one of the ways magnesium lowers blood pressure is by promoting the relaxation of blood vessels, which helps improve blood flow. The researchers noted that a higher magnesium intake was associated with a reduction in both systolic blood pressure—the top number—and diastolic blood pressure—the bottom number.

To reap this benefit, adults should consume 320 to 420 mg of magnesium each day. And oh, hey, white beans, there you are again—delivering a good source of this blood-pressure-lowering mineral, with 57 mg (about 14 to 17% of the DV) per 1/2 cup cooked.

Calcium

Calcium is often touted for its bone-building benefits. But it is also a key factor in blood pressure management because it helps the contraction and relaxation of the smooth muscle cells that line your blood vessel walls. According to a 2024 study published in the Journal of Hypertension, a diet rich in calcium is linked to lower systolic blood pressure.

Due to the inadequate calcium intake of most Americans, the Dietary Guidelines have identified calcium as another nutrient of public health concern. So how much do you need? According to the National Institutes of Health, it depends on your age. Most adults should aim for 1,000 to 1,200 mg of calcium daily, while those who are pregnant need 1,300 mg. By consuming 1/2 cup of cooked white beans, you can get 81 mg or 8% of the DV for calcium for a non-pregnant person. Though white beans aren’t the richest source of calcium out there, it’s still nice to get a little boost from this plant-based protein.

Fiber

Fiber is an important nutrient that most of us miss the mark on. Getting enough fiber helps ensure a healthy gut microbiome. It also helps keep things moving through our gut and prevents constipation. Fiber is filling, especially when combined with protein and healthy fat—which is what you get in white beans. And eating more fiber has been linked with a reduced risk of disease, including heart disease—in part, because of its ability to lower blood pressure and cholesterol.

A 2022 study published in Current Hypertension Reports suggests that dietary fiber has a positive effect on your gut microbiome—the collection of trillions of beneficial and potentially harmful microscopic organisms in your intestines that influence your health. The beneficial bacteria in your gut feed on fiber (because even bacteria need to eat to survive) and produce compounds called short-chain fatty acids, which is what researchers hypothesize may help lower blood pressure.

Just 1/2 cup of white beans contains about 6 grams of fiber, which meets nearly a quarter of the daily 25 to 38 grams of fiber recommended by the Dietary Guidelines.

Ways to Enjoy White Beans

White beans are a category of beans that includes cannellini beans, navy beans, great northern beans and lima beans. White beans have a pleasantly light, yet slightly nutty flavor that makes them perfect for a wide array of dishes.

Cannellini beans, also called white kidney beans, are the largest of the bunch, with firm skins that help them maintain their structure in salads, stews and soups, like in our White Bean Soup with Pasta. Navy beans are the smallest type of white bean, with a creamier texture that makes them ideal for pureed soups and dips. While our Lemon, Mint & White Bean Dip calls for white cannellini beans, you can certainly swap them out for navy beans. Great northern beans are a happy medium. They’re delicious in casseroles and soups, like this Creamy White Bean Soup. As for lima beans, they are often called “butter beans” for their distinctively rich and creamy texture that makes them a good match for stews, salads and soups. Try them in our Spinach, Lima Bean & Crispy Pancetta Pasta.

Before you head to the grocery store to stock up on one or all of these white bean varieties, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. If you want the convenience of canned beans, check the Nutrition Facts label for the sodium content—because they can contain a lot of it. Reach for cans labeled “no salt added” or “reduced salt” and aim for options that contain 5% or less of the DV for sodium. If you choose to purchase dry beans, make sure you soak them overnight or for at least six to eight hours to improve your body’s absorption of protein, as well as the blood-pressure-lowering minerals calcium and magnesium. Soaking them will also help them cook faster.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to lowering blood pressure, it’s important to focus on foods that are rich in potassium, magnesium, calcium and fiber while also being low in sodium. The protein source that checks all of these boxes is white beans. These versatile, hearty beans are not only an excellent source of plant-based protein, but they also contain ample amounts of the above nutrients that will help stabilize your blood pressure. So the next time you plan on making a soup, stew or salad, throw in a cup of white beans. Your heart will thank you.