Hypertension: 10 Natural Ways To Lower Your Blood Pressure ASAP

Hypertension: 10 Natural Ways To Lower Blood Pressure ASAP

Hypertension is easily described as abnormally high blood pressure. Medication can lower blood pressure but it may cause side effects such as leg cramps, dizziness, and insomnia. The goodnews is that blood pressure can be lowered using some natural techniques. Some of the natural ways to lower blood pressure are discussed below;

Exercise regularly

Regular physical activity at least 30 minutes most days of the week can lower your blood pressure by 4 to 9 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg). It’s important to be consistent because if you stop exercising, your blood pressure can rise again.

If you have slightly high blood pressure (prehypertension), exercise can help you avoid developing full-blown hypertension. If you already have hypertension, regular physical activity can bring your blood pressure down to safer levels.

The best types of exercise for lowering blood pressure include walking, jogging, cycling, swimming or dancing. Strength training also can help reduce blood pressure. Talk to your doctor about developing an exercise program.

Deep Breathe

As simple as it sounds, breathing is an effective technique to lower blood pressure. Slow breathing and meditative practices such as yoga can help decrease the stress hormones that elevate renin a kidney enzyme that raises blood pressure.

“Sit in a comfortable chair with armrests. Your body should be as relaxed as possible. Place one hand on a part of your chest or preferably your abdomen. Watch your hand rise and fall with each breath…feel the breath as it moves into your abdomen,” Dr. John M. Kennedy, a cardiologist in Los Angeles, Calif., and author of the book The Heart Health Bible told Medical Daily in an email.

This should be repeated seven times and can become a daily habit by doing deep breathing 10 minutes in the morning.

Reduce Salt Intake

Certain groups of people the elderly, African Americans, and those with a family history of high blood pressure are more likely than others to have blood pressure that’s particularly salt (or sodium) sensitive.

But because there’s no way to tell whether any one individual is sodium sensitive, everyone should lower sodium intake, says Eva Obarzanek, PhD, a research nutritionist at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. How far? To 1,500 mg daily if you want low blood pressure, about half the average American intake, she says. (Half a teaspoon of salt contains about 1,200 mg of sodium.)

Cutting sodium means more than going easy on the saltshaker, which contributes just 15% of the sodium in the typical American diet. (For more ways to reduce your sodium, see 6 simple ways to lower your salt intake.) Watch for sodium in processed foods, Obarzanek warns. That’s where most of the sodium in your diet comes from, she says. Season foods with spices, herbs, lemon, and salt-free seasoning blends.

Drink Tea

Sipping on not one but four cups of tea daily can help control blood pressure. A study presented at the European Society of Hyper tension in Milan found those who avoided coffee and tea consumption all together had the highest rates of blood pressure, pulse pressure, and heart rate. Those who drank tea the most often, between one to four cups a day, had the lowest systolic and diastolic blood pressure readings, as well as the lowest pulse pressure and heart rate. Pinkies up, for your blood pressure’s sake.

Go for Brisk Walks

Hypertensive patients who went for fitness walks at a brisk pace lowered pressure by almost 8 mmHg over 6 mmHg. Exercise helps the heart use oxygen more efficiently, so it doesn’t work as hard to pump blood.

Get a vigorous cardio workout of at least 30 minutes on most days of the week for low blood pressure. Try increasing speed or distance so you keep challenging your ticker.