High blood pressure is a harmful condition that can damage your heart and it leads serious diseases. It affects many people but they don't know. It is found that high blood pressure affects more than a billion people worldwide. Many people lack the knowledge on how to control and Lower Blood Pressure naturally.
If left uncontrolled, it raises your risk of heart disease and stroke by damaging and weakening your brain's blood vessel.
But there's good news. There are some activities you can engage yourself to Lower Blood Pressure naturally, even without medication.
Here are 15 natural ways to fight high blood pressure and stay healthy.
- Have a Regular Exercise
Exercise is one of the best things you should do to Lower Blood Pressure.
Regular exercise helps to keep your heart stronger, healthy and more efficient at pumping blood, which reduces the pressure in your arteries. Regular exercise also helps to prevent type 2 diabetes, arthritis and depression.
In fact, 150 minutes of moderate exercise, such as walking, or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise, such as jogging, every week can help Lower Blood Pressure and make your heart healthy.
Having enough and regular exercise will help to Lower Blood Pressure and make you healthy.
- Eat Enough Potassium-Rich Foods
Potassium is an important mineral for the body. It helps to lower blood pressure by balancing out the negative effects of salt and this helps to maintain a healthy balance of fluids in the body.
The modern processed food contains much of sodium, and have increased most people's sodium consumption while decreasing potassium consumption.
to get a better balance of potassium to sodium in your diet, eat more of fresh vegetables and fewer processed foods.
Foods that are particularly high in potassium include:
Tomatoes, vegetables, especially leafy greens, white beans, fish, potatoes and sweet potatoes
Fruit, like melons, figs, bananas, oranges, avocados, and apricots
Dairies, such as milk and yoghurt
Tuna and salmon
Nuts and seeds
Beans
- Reduce Your Intake Of Sodium
There is a higher intake of salt worldwide around the world. In large part, this is as a result of prepared and processed foods.
For the above reason, many public health efforts are tagged at decreasing salt usage in the food industry for the safety of humanity.
In so many studies, salt has been linked to high blood pressure and cardiovascular diseases, like stroke, cardiac arrest, congenital heart disease and heart failure.
However, more recent research shows that the relationship between sodium and high blood pressure is not really obvious.
One of the reasons for this may be genetic differences in how people process sodium. More than one-third of people with high blood pressure and one-quarter of people with normal blood levels seem to have a sensitivity to salt.
If you already have high blood pressure, it's worth reducing your sodium intake to see if it can help you. Replace processed foods with fresh vegetables and try seasoning with herbs and spices, rather than salt to help Lower Blood Pressure.
- Eat Dark Chocolate or Cocoa
Here's a piece of advice you can really get behind.
While eating massive amounts of chocolate probably would produce little or no positive effect your heart, small amounts may.
That's because dark chocolate and cocoa powder contain enough plant compound and flavonoids, that causes blood vessels to dilate.
Many studies found that cocoa that contains high flavonoid improved several markers of heart health over the short term, including to lower blood pressure.
For the best result, use non-alkalized cocoa powder, which is especially high in flavonoids and has no or very low sugar.
- Eat Foods Rich in Magnesium
Magnesium is an important mineral that can relax your blood vessels.
While magnesium rich food is everywhere, many people don't get enough.
Some studies have shown that not getting enough magnesium is linked with high blood pressure, but clinical studies have not provided a clear evidence.
Still, eating a magnesium-rich diet is a recommended for lowering blood pressure.
You can get magnesium from eating vegetables, meat, chicken dairy products, legumes and whole grains.
- Consume Less Alcohol
Drinking much alcohol can raise blood pressure. to this effect, alcohol is linked to 16% of high blood pressure cases worldwide.
Some research has suggested that low-to-moderate intake of alcohol can protect the heart. So it will unwise to consume excessive alcohol and risk our heart.
In the countries, moderate alcohol intake is defined as no more than one drink a day for one person. If you drink more than that, cut back to help Lower Blood Pressure.
- Quit Smoking
One of the many reasons to quit smoking is that the habit is a strong risk factor for heart disease.
Every time one smokes it causes a slight, temporary increase in blood pressure. Tobacco contains a lot of chemicals which destroy blood vessels.
It surprising that studies haven't found a conclusive relationship between high blood pressure and smoking. Perhaps this is because smokers develop a tolerance over time and the effect is not noticed easily.
Still, since both high blood pressure and smoking raise the risk of heart disease, quitting smoking can help reverse that risk and make you healthy.
- Cut Back on Caffeine
If you've ever finished a cup of coffee before you've had your blood pressure risen, you'll know that caffeine causes an automatic boost.
However, there's no enough fact to suggest that drinking caffeine regularly can cause a lasting increase.
It is a proven fact that people who drink caffeinated coffee and tea tend to have a lower risk of heart disease, including high blood pressure than those who don't.
Caffeine may have a stronger effect on people who consume it on a non-regular basis.
If you suspect that your body system reacts to caffeine, cut back to see if it lowers your blood pressure.
- Eat Calcium-Rich Foods
People who consume low calcium often have high blood pressure.
Calcium-rich foods are seem linked to healthy heart, though calcium supplements haven't been conclusively shown to lower blood pressure.
Calcium recommended for adults human is 1,000 mg each day. For men over 70 and women over 50, it's 1,200 mg each day.
You can get calcium from dairies, collard greens and other leafy greens, tofu, sardines and beans.
- Learn to Manage Stress
Stress is one of the causes of high blood pressure.
When you're chronically stressed, your body is in a constant fight. On a physical level, that means a faster heartbeat and blocked blood vessels.
When you are under stress, you might also be more likely to engage in other habits, such as drinking alcohol or eating unhealthy food, that can negatively affect blood pressure.
Many studies have shown how reducing stress can help lower blood pressure. Here are two evidence-based tips to try:
Listen to soothing music: Calming or soft music can help relax your nervous system. Research has shown it's an effective complement to other blood pressure therapies.
Work less: Working a lot, and stressful work situations in general, are linked to high blood pressure. Reduce your workload to get a better result.
- Lose Weight
If you are overweight, you are at risk of having high blood pressure and other heart diseases. Losing weight can make a big difference for your heart health.
A study shows that losing 5% of your body weight could significantly lower blood pressure. You can lose weight by consuming very low sugar and starch.
To get a greater effect try to pair weight loss with exercises such as weightlifting and jogging.
Losing weight can help your blood vessels to expand and contract, making the left ventricle of the heart to pump blood very well.
- Eat Berries to Lower Blood Pressure
Berries contain more than just juicy flavour.
They are also packed with natural plant compound, polyphenols that are good for the human heart.
Eating berries on a regular basis helps to improve in different markers of heart health, including lowering blood pressure.
A study was conducted with two groups of people with high blood pressure. One group was assigned to a low-polyphenol diet, and another group was assigned to a high-polyphenol diet containing berries, vegetables, fruits and chocolate.
The result was that consuming berries and polyphenol-rich foods experienced improved markers of heart disease risk.
- Take Natural Supplements
Many natural supplements can also help lower blood pressure. Here are some of the natural supplements that have evidence behind them:
Aged garlic extract: Aged garlic extract has been used along with conventional therapies to lower blood pressure and other heart problems.
Berberine: Berberine is one of the main content of Ayurvedic and Chinese medicine, berberine may increase nitric oxide production, which helps lower blood pressure.
Fish oil: Fish oil has greater credit for improving heart health, it may also benefit people with high blood pressure the most.
Hibiscus: Hibiscus is rich in polyphenols and anthocyanins which can benefit your heart and may lower blood pressure. Hibiscus flower powder can make your tea tasty.
- Make sure to get good, restful sleep
Your blood pressure dips down when you are having a good sleep. If you don’t have a good sleep, it can affect your blood pressure. People who deprive themselves of sleep whose sleep is disturbed, especially the middle-aged, have a high risk of high blood pressure.
For so many people getting enough sleep is not easy. There are a lot of ways to help you get good sleep. Try and set a regular sleep schedule, relaxing, exercising during the day, avoiding daytime naps, mind what you drink and making your bedroom comfortable.
Researchers found out that sleeping below 7 hours a night and more than 8 hours a night was associated with an increased prevalence of hypertension. Sleeping less than six hours a night was linked to the highest risk of hypertension and many other heart diseases.
It is noted that high blood pressure affects a greater population of the world.While the taking of drugs is one of the means to lower blood pressure, there are a lot of natural ways that can help.
Practicing the methods in this article may, ultimately, help to lower blood pressure and lower the risk of many other heart diseases.