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Lower Blood Pressure Naturally
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Try these natural methods to reduce your high blood pressure.
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Stop smoking
Not only will this help keep your blood
pressure in line, you'll also diminish your risk of cancer and cardiovascular diseases. Smoking is
main risk factor for atherosclerosis.Smoking injures blood vessel walls and speeds up the process
of hardening of the arteries. So even though it does not cause high blood pressure, smoking is bad
for anyone, especially those with high blood pressure. If you smoke, quit. If you don't smoke,
don't start. Once you quit, your risk of having a heart attack is reduced after the first year. So
you have a lot to gain by quitting.
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Weight Reduction.Obese
patients should lose weight.There's a direct link between being overweight and having
high blood pressure. The more overweight you are, the greater the risk. Start by making
small changes. Cut 200 to 300 calories from your diet each day — about the equivalent
of saying "no" to two chocolate chip cookies.
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Decrease salt intake. High salt intake is linked
to high blood pressure. You should consume no more than 2,000 milligrams of sodium per
day (about one teaspoon of salt). The average American consumes twice that, often
through canned soups, frozen dinners, soy sauce, pickles, olives and processed cheeses,
which are loaded with sodium. Read food labels and select reduced-sodium products. Try
to select food with low salt.
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Add more fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products to your
plate. Eat one additional fruit or vegetable with every meal. Shrink the
size of your daily meat intake to six ounces, and designate at least two dinners a week
as meat-free. Fatty diets do not directly affect blood pressure. However,
saturated fats and cholesterol in foods raise blood cholesterol, which increases the
risk for heart disease. Foods high in fats also are high in calories, which must be
reduced if you need to lose weight. Like smoking high cholestrol is also a major risk
factor for atherosclerosis.
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Limit alcohol consumption. Drink no more than one
12-ounce beer, one 5-ounce glass of wine or one swallow (1.5 ounces) of 80-proof
whiskey if you’re a woman. Men can double these amounts. Anything more elevates blood
pressure. You can reduce your blood pressure by 5-10 mmHg by just restricting
Alcohol intake.
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Exercise. First, get the green light from your
physician. Then, slowly introduce aerobic exercise into your life, increasing the time
and intensity at a pace that feels right, aiming for at least a 30-minute workout most
days of the week. Young people should jog for 30 minutes three times per week and
elderly patients should walk longer distances than usual.
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Decrease Stress and Anxiety:Yes stress and
anxiety also play role in high blood presure.If You want your blood pressure with
in normal limits, try your self to get happy all times. Try extra curricular activities
to make your mind stress free. Stress can make blood pressure go up for a while, and it
has been thought to contribute to high blood pressure. But the long-term effects of
stress are as yet unclear. Stress management techniques do not seem to prevent high
blood pressure. However, such techniques may have other benefits, such as making
you feel better or helping you to control over-eating.
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Caffeine and Blood Pressure: Caffeine in coffee
as well as in other drinks, such as tea and sodas, only raises blood pressure
temporarily. So you should be able to continue to have drinks that contain caffeine,
unless you are sensitive to it or have heart disease and your doctor tells you not to
have any.
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Eat adequate amounts of potassium-rich foods.
Potassium, another mineral essential to good health, works in concert with sodium
to regulate blood pressure. Studies have shown that people who consume more potassium
have lower blood pressures than those who consume less. Rich sources of potassium
include many fruits, such as cantaloupe, bananas, watermelon, oranges and orange juice,
as well as potatoes, spinach, and zucchini. (Important note: if taking medication for
high blood pressure, such as diuretics, consult a doctor before using salt substitutes
that contain high amounts of potassium.
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