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Lower Blood Pressure Naturally
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Try these natural methods to reduce your high
blood pressure.
. 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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