Early each year in Columbus, Ohio, the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness hosts the IFBB Arnold Sports Festival, also known as the Arnold Schwarzenegger Sports Festival, which was first organized and founded by Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1989. This multi-sport event consists of professional bodybuilding, strongman, fitness, figure and bikini weekend expo.

However, obstacles that couldn’t be avoided got in the way of the event this year. As the coronavirus continues to defy containment and spread at unpredictable rates, the management of Arnold Sports Festival decided it was best to keep spectators out of the crowded arenas this year.

But that left them with one problem: what were they to do with all of the food that had already been prepared? Enough food to feed the 200,000 people expected to show up would be on its way to waste if they didn’t come up with an alternative solution. Well, fortunately, one kind-hearted soul had an inspiring idea…

Instead of throwing it away, the festival decided to offer the meals up to those in need: first to the tornado victims in Nashville, and then to the first responders who were helping them and others in nearby places suffering from a turmoil.

Molly Dale, the general manager for the Greater Columbus Convention Center’s food service provider Levy who had been in charge of the festival’s culinary project, said in a statement: “We wanted something positive to happen to the food that could not be repurposed.”

On Saturday, a refrigerated truck carrying all of the goods made its way from the Greater Columbus Convention Center to the Nissan Stadium, where the Tennessee Titans play, according to a news release. The menu included chicken salad and egg salad sandwiches, pasta, mixed green salad, fruit, yogurt, a vegetable medley, brown rice, potato chips, and bottled water.

There are thousands of people with high blood pressure, and some don’t know they have it. Sure, you can use medicine to treat high blood pressure, but you can also make simple adjustments to your daily eating habits. Below we pulled together a list of superfoods that can help you fight high blood pressure. Bonus – they improve your overall health, too!

When you are trying to prevent or reduce high blood pressure, a key component is fiber, and that is why oatmeal is such a great addition to your daily routine. The water-soluble fiber is broken down and then helps get rid of that nasty bad cholesterol (aka LDL).

Oatmeal can be very versatile. You can make it savory or sweet and even add some of the options below into the dish to boost its effectiveness.

If you suffer from high blood pressure, then you probably have been told to lower your sodium levels. One food that helps with this is the delicious sweet potato. It does this because it is rich in potassium.

Like its cousin, the regular potato, the sweet potato can be served in multiple ways. You can fry them, bake them, or even add them into a dessert. There are plenty of ways to add them to your diet.

Who doesn’t love a good PB&J sandwich? For most of us, it brings us back to our youth, but that creamy, nutty spread can help us as adults too! It is rich in both potassium and fiber, along with tons of protein. So you can see it is super healthy.

The best place to add this creamy, delicious spread into our diet is at breakfast. You can add it to your oatmeal or even that morning smoothie!

Flavonoids are compounds that have been shown to potentially help fight high blood pressure. A great source of these is seasonal berries – in particular, the blueberry.

The small but mighty blueberry is packed with anthocyanin, which can help ensure your endothelial cells are doing what they are supposed to. But you don’t have to stick with blueberries; most berries will deliver some flavonoids, and they go with just about anything.

By far, one of the best foods to incorporate into your diet to combat high blood pressure is leafy greens. Things like kale, chard, or broccoli will introduce tons of vitamins and minerals that can help reduce hypertension. Most of these greens are high in things like folate, magnesium, calcium, and potassium.

Calcium is good for helping your heart work properly. On the other hand, potassium and magnesium can help regulate blood pressure, and folate has been shown to do the same.

Few foods are more potassium-rich than bananas. As we have said, potassium helps control the sodium levels in your body, which helps your body’s systems work properly.

Don’t worry, there are tons of ways other than peeling and eating the fruit that you can add it into your diet. You could add it to that oatmeal or even mash it up and use it in baking. The banana is a lot more versatile than we all think.

Garlic is also a tool that can be used to help reduce your chance of high blood pressure. The aromatic herb that is a foundation for many cuisines and has properties that can help our blood flow through the vessels easier.

Garlic helps in nitric oxide production, which causes our blood vessels to open up more, which allows the blood to get from place to place a lot easier. This, in turn, helps the heart function more effectively.

It has been proven that beet juice, or beets in general, can lower high blood pressure and reduce the risk of it occurring in the first place. Beets are rich in nitrates that seem to be the reason for their stellar performance when fighting high blood pressure.

You have to be sure not to boil it, as this damages the valuable nitrate present, but as long as you do that, this vegetable could be a good addition to your diet.

Yogurt is also a great choice to introduce into your eating habits. The tangy, creamy food is rife with magnesium and calcium. Both of these vitamins can be used to help control blood pressure. That is, as long as it is accompanied by a good diet and some exercise.

One of the contributors to high blood pressure is weight, and since yogurt is also rich in protein, it is great for weight management. Try adding in a cup or two a day and see what happens.

Tomatoes are delicious and can be added to many dishes. They are also high in potassium, which has many properties that can help with high blood pressure. One of these is the ability to get rid of bad cholesterol. Reducing LDL will keep the arteries clear and allow for blood to circulate properly.

On top of the potassium, they are also very good sources of antioxidants’, so stay away from canned tomatoes unless they say no salt added or reduced salt, as the other will be high in salt.

Nuts are a great source of healthy fats, as well as essential vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Though Pistachios have less fat than other nuts, that is a good thing even though the fat present in most nuts, as we have said, is healthy.

You want to eat them as simply prepared as possible. A simple roasted pistachio is the way to go. The biggest thing is to try to stay away from are salted or flavored pistachios, as they will be high in salt.

This oil is one of the best for fighting high blood pressure as it is chock full of compounds known as polyphenols. These compounds can help your endothelium work more efficiently as they travel through your body.

There have been many studies when it comes to olive oil, especially extra virgin olive oil. They all seem to come to the same conclusion – that it is a great way to live an overall healthier lifestyle.

Like extra virgin olive oil, pomegranates are rich in the antioxidant polyphenol. This compound helps with heart health in many ways and has been shown to be an effective tool in the fight against high blood pressure.

It would be ideal to add at least 300ml a day of pomegranate juice to get the fullest effect. You can use pomegranate juice in lieu of OJ, or even make dishes using the juice as a component for a sauce.

Lemon juice and lemons can be found in a lot of dishes and are very versatile. They are even capable of helping with that high blood pressure problem. It has been shown that lemons help relax your blood vessels, making them work better.

Lemon has even been shown to lower fats like triglycerides, which can help with weight management and liver functions. The good news is that, as we have said, adding lemon into your diet is easy and can be done in a plethora of ways.

Another component that can be helpful with high blood pressure is omega 3 fatty acids. There is no better source than fatty fish like salmon and mackerel. This compound helps reduce triglycerides and helps reduce inflammation.

You can make a fillet, flake it and make a salad, or toss it on the grill. Add a squeeze or two of lemon, and you have the perfect addition to your lunch.

Spinach is a leafy green, and therefore it is chock full of folate, potassium, and magnesium. All of which are key to good heart health. The vitamins and minerals help in many ways, but chiefly ensure that the heart and circulatory system are working properly.

Like many of the foods we have discussed, spinach is versatile and can be added to your diet in many ways. In a salad, your smoothie, or tossed into some pasta, spinach is a crucial component to your heart-healthy diet.

Studies show that the leafy green stalk can actually do some damage when it comes to fighting high blood pressure. By adding in a celery stalk a day, you may be able to help regulate your blood pressure.

The vegetable is low in sodium and high in fiber, magnesium, and potassium, so it is a vitamin and mineral bomb when combating high blood pressure. It also contains phthalides, which are a photochemical that can help improve your circulatory flow.

Who doesn’t love avocados nowadays? It is everywhere, from toast to smoothies – and for good reason. Not only does it taste delicious, but there are a lot of health benefits in incorporating this fruit into your diet.

This fruit is full of healthy fats, which help reduce bad cholesterol and also high in fiber, which is good to help with weight management. Both of these attributes will help with high blood pressure.

Watermelon is one of those fruits that seems to have it all. It has almost no calories and is filled with water. But it also has an amino acid called L-citrulline in it. This amino acid is highly effective when it comes to dealing with high blood pressure.

Through a chemical process, acid is transformed into nitric oxide, which helps open up your circulatory system’s blood vessels.

Dark chocolate is by far the healthiest chocolate around, primarily because of the flavanols housed within it. These compounds help increase the quality of nitric oxide in arteries.

Though the benefit has yet to be proven, most experts say that a little dark chocolate every day is good for the heart. This food does need to be eaten in moderation, though. But a little won’t hurt, plus it helps get rid of those sugar cravings, and that can’t be bad for your health.