High blood pressure can be avoided by making simple diet changes. Eating fewer salty foods and more vegetables can help someone stop levels getting too high, which could cause premature death. Eat this potassium-rich food to reduce hypertension risk, The Express says.

High blood pressure could be slashed by eating a whole pomegranate.

The seeds of this tropical fruit and its juice are rich in potassium, according to clinical nutritionist Dr Josh Axe, which could help slash hypertension.

“They’re also loaded with fibre, vitamin C and vitamin K, among other nutrients,” added Dr Axe.

“Pomegranate juice has also been found to be one of the healthiest fruit juices in the world.”

The fruit contains an estimated 236 milligrams of the blood pressure lowering nutrient in each 100 grams, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.

High blood pressure can be caused by an imbalance between two vital nutrients, sodium and potassium, in the blood.

“Potassium is a key mineral that the body relies on heavily to function properly,” they said. “It helps to lower blood pressure by balancing out the negative effects of salt.”

“Your kidneys help to control your blood pressure by controlling the amount of fluid stored in your body.

“[They] do this by filtering your blood and sucking out any extra fluid, which it then stores in your bladder as urine.

“This process uses a delicate balance of sodium and potassium to pull the water across a wall of cells fro the bloodstream into a collecting channel that leads to the bladder.”

A study published in 2013 found eating pomegranates for two weeks helped lower blood pressure.

Just 21 participants who already had high blood pressure took part in the trial, and needed to consume 150ml of pomegranate juice a day for two weeks.

Published in the journal Phytotherapy Research, the results showed a drop in blood pressure for participants.