LOWERING YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE WITHOUT MEDICATION

LOWERING YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE WITHOUT MEDICATION

High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is one of the most common diseases of our time. This is a condition whereby the force of blood being pumped through a person’s blood vessels is dangerously high. A person with high blood pressure has a reading of over 140/90 which is the threshold. This is often as a result of narrowing of the blood vessels, especially the arteries, and the heart continuously pumping blood at a faster rate. A person’s blood pressure is therefore determined by the amount of blood pumped from the heart and the resistance to flow as it goes through the arteries.

What makes blood pressure dangerous is that it develops over a period of time and can affect both the young and old. Despite not having any symptoms such as damaged blood vessels, it is a condition that could easily escalate, leading to a heart attack or even a stroke. The good news is that hypertension is a condition that can easily be detected at the early stages. This reduces the chances of it escalating to more serious conditions among them aneurysms, kidney failure and loss of cognitive memory.

Despite there being pharmaceutical drugs that could help combat this condition, many people are afraid of living off medical drugs for the rest of their lives. For some people who have been on this medication, side effects are very evident. Among these side effects are insomnia, dizziness and leg cramps. Fortunately, high blood pressure is a condition that could be easily controlled naturally for the rest of your life. There is no need to live the rest of your life under the heavy weight of pharmaceutical drugs. A lifestyle change might be all one needs in order to lower the blood pressure and perhaps even eliminate the need for drugs.  Below are some of the best strategies you will require in order to naturally lower that blood pressure:

Shed the extra pounds

It is common knowledge that overweight or obese people have a higher risk of succumbing to high blood pressure. This is because as the weight increases, so does the blood pressure. You might not necessarily be obese but if you find yourself having high blood pressure, it may be an indication you need to shed off the extra weight.

Embrace working out

Exercise should be an important part of every person’s daily routine. For someone with high blood pressure, it becomes even more important. Exercising just for 30 minutes every day has been known to lower a patient’s blood pressure by up to 9 Hg. This is very effective in lowering that blood pressure to be normal.

Have a healthy diet

Healthy eating has been known to lower blood pressure by up to 14 Hg. It is evident that a lifestyle change is very important and it also includes areas of your life such as diet. It is definitely time to drop the fast food diet and take a keen interest in what you eat.

Mind your salt intake

Being salt-smart means being in control of the sodium that goes into your body. Even though you cannot eliminate all the sodium from your diet, you should reduce your intake.  A study has shown that some hypertension cases have been triggered by high sodium intake into the body. Since it may not be possible to know whether your  high blood pressure is triggered by sodium intake, it is advisable that its intake be reduced by any patient.

Cutting down on alcohol intake

A number of studies have shown that cutting on your drinking reduces your blood pressure to some extent. Additionally, low alcohol amounts have been found to help in lowering of high blood pressure by between 2 and 4 mm Hg.

The question many people often ask is how much alcohol is too much. This is especially true for people who can handle high levels of alcohol without getting drunk. More than one drink per day for a women and men aged over 65 years,  and more than two drinks for men younger than 65 years is considered too much alcohol intake.

Know how to manage stress

Chronic stress has been identified as one of the main causes of high blood pressure.  In our fast paced world, there are many things that may upset us, make us anxious and eventually increase our stress levels.

Adrenaline and cortisol in the blood increase our heart rates and cause the constriction of the blood vessels as more blood is channeled to the core of the body instead of the extremities of the body. This definitely results in high blood pressure. Even though this could be a temporary state of the body that soon dissipates, its effects cannot be ignored. Once you figure out your stress triggers, avoid them at all costs.