Natural Ways To Reduce High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure or hypertension is dangerous because it makes the heart work harder and contributes to hardening of the arteries or atherosclerosis, stroke, kidney disease, and to development of heart failure. Consider doing these natural ways to reduce high blood pressure before consuming a drug. 

What is High Blood Pressure or Hypertension?

High blood pressure or hypertension is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated.

A blood pressure reading has a top number (systolic) and the bottom number (diastolic).

The blood pressure ranges are:

• Normal: less than 120 over 80 (120/80)
• Prehypertension: 120-139 over 80-89
• Stage 1 high blood pressure: 140-159 over 90-99
• Stage 2 high blood pressure: 160 and above over 100 and above
• High blood pressure in people over age 60: 150 and above over 90 and above

Watch a video about what is high blood pressure or hypertension below:

High Blood Pressure Symptoms:

High blood pressure is a largely symptomless “silent killer“. We should not ignore our blood pressure because we think a certain symptom or sign will alert us to the problem. Read other diseases that threaten women over 40 here.

High Blood Pressure Causes:

The exact causes of high blood pressure are not known. These are some factors and conditions may play a role in its development:

• Smoking
• Being overweight or obese
• Lack of physical activity
• Too much salt in the diet
• Too much alcohol consumption (more than 1 to 2 drinks per day)
• Stress
• Older age
• Genetics
• Family history
• Chronic kidney disease
• Adrenal and thyroid disorders
• Sleep apnea

Of the several causes of high blood or hypertension mentioned above, it can be prevented and treated easily. The important things to be considered are the healthy lifestyle and the foods + drink we consume.

Natural Ways To Reduce High Blood Pressure

These are some healthy lifestyles in order to reduce blood pressure:

1. Go For Walk

   Walking briskly can reduce high blood pressure according to a study conducted at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Life Science Division in Berkley, Calif

2. Breathe Deeply

   In a study, deep breathing and slowing the breath resulted in the systolic pressure dip as much as 10 mm Hg after only doing it six times!.

   

3. Eat Less Salt

   An adult should eat no more than 6g of salt a day. Eating too much salt is the biggest cause of high blood pressure. The more salt we eat, the higher our blood pressure will be. Salt makes the body retain water. if we eat too much, the extra water stored in the body raises our blood pressure.

4. Work Less

Working a lot and stressful work situations are linked to high blood pressure. Chronic stress is an important contributor to high blood pressure. We should try to accept things we can not change. Make time to relax and to do the activities we enjoy. Expressing gratitude to others can help reduce stressful thoughts.

 5.Consume Certain Foods and Drinks That Help To Reduce  Blood Pressure

Here are foods and drinks that good to be consumed as natural ways to reduce high blood pressure or hypertension:

1. Vegetables

Vegetables can help lower blood pressure in many ways. Most contain a high level of nitrate and nitrite, good sources of nitric oxide (NO), a blood vessel relaxing signal molecule. Consume vegetables such as acorn squash, asparagus, beet greens, beetroot, broccoli, carrot, cauliflower, celery, chayote,  corn, green beans, kale, lettuce, mushrooms, potato, pumpkin, radish, snow peas, spinach, sweet peppers, sweet potato, tomato, yam, zucchini are good to reduce blood pressure.

Tomato which rich in vitamins and minerals is very good for the body. Tomatoes contain calcium, potassium, and vitamin C. Potassium and calcium can help the body in lowering high blood pressure.

Potato has many benefits for the body. In addition to a healthy source of carbohydrates, potatoes also contain magnesium and potassium. Both of these compounds will be very useful for controlling blood pressure in the body. Magnesium is also very reliable to facilitate the flow of blood. Both of these compounds can help the body in maintaining blood pressure.

Green vegetables are very helpful in treating high blood pressure. Spinach leaves have potassium content. Celery also has a lot of potassium and calcium to help cure hypertension. Add celery to a healthy diet every day to overcome hypertension.

A study published in the journal Complete Nutrition found that adding more beetroots to our diet could help blood flow. It is the nitrates it contains that have a dilating effect on blood vessels to lower blood pressure. Beetroots also contain key nutrients such as folate, potassium, and vitamin C.

2. Fruits

Fruits are sources of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. Consume fruits such as apples, apricots, banana, blueberries, cantaloupe, dates, figs, grapefruit, guava, kiwi, mangoes, oranges, prunes, strawberries, watermelon are natural ways to reduce high blood pressure. Dried fruit provides the same benefits as fresh as long as it is not pickled, salted, or processed with added sugar, fat or salt.

Read more “The Benefits of Eating Rainbow Fruits and Vegetable” here.

3. Beans and Peas

All beans and peas can help reduce high blood pressure due to their high content of fiber, potassium, and magnesium. Beans and peas have a variety of vitamins and minerals that are very useful for our body and can reduce high blood pressure. Canned beans and peas provide the same benefits as fresh, as long as they do not contain added sugar, fat or salt.

Consume black beans, kidney beans, lentils, lime beans, pinto beans, soybeans ( and its food product such as tofu, tempeh, soybean milk), split peas are good to reduce high blood pressure. Soybeans have high potassium and magnesium content that help lower blood pressure in the body.

4. Nuts and Seeds

Nuts and seeds that contain higher amounts of omega-3 and lower amounts of omega-6 are the optimal choices to reduce blood pressure. They are cashews, flax seeds, hickory nuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds, walnuts.

 5. Whole Grains

The bran and the germ found at the heart of the grain are the cause of the blood pressure-lowering effect. It is important to read the nutrition label and make sure the products we select are low sodium and low fat. Consume amaranth, barley, buckwheat, oatmeal, quinoa,  wheat bran, wheat germ, whole wheat products are good to reduce blood pressure.

  6. Dark Chocolate

Eating about 30 calories a day of dark chocolate was shown to reduce high blood pressure after 18 weeks without weight gain or other adverse effects, according to a study published in the Journal of The American Medical Association (JAMA).

We should be very careful not to eat it too much because chocolate is also high in calories. Choose dark chocolate consisting of at least 70 percent cocoa powder.

 7. Spices

Consume spices such as garlic, cardamom, cinnamon, curcumin, ginger, and cayenne pepper are fantastic ways to reduce high blood pressure. Researchers have discovered a connection between the phenol content of certain spices and their capacity to prevent glycation and formation of AGE compounds that are responsible for premature aging and heart disease. Learn more about the benefits of consuming cardamom, curcumin, and ginger.

Garlic is very good at helping to heal high blood or hypertension. It is proven to prevent the occurrence of blood clotting processes and able to withstand the effects of high blood on the body. In addition, garlic is a low cholesterol food that can help to reduce the blockage in the heart.

8. Cheese

Eating cheese can actually provide its own benefits, especially in terms of lowering blood pressure. This interesting fact was revealed by a researcher Anna Stanhewicz from Pennsylvania State University. The habit of consuming dairy products such as cheese turns out to protect the body, specifically blood vessels. This can have a positive impact on reducing blood pressure significantly.

According to Anna, this protective effect is obtained from the antioxidant properties present in milk protein. Even though cheese also contains sodium, it will not have a bad effect on blood vessels. Very different when compared to the effect of sodium which comes from food sources other than dairy products.

“We found that participants who ate cheese actually had blood vessels that were healthier in function even though the cheese was also rich in sodium. “The blood flow of these participants is more smooth compared to other groups of participants who consume sodium sources from products other than milk,” said Anna.

9. Drink Tea

Researchers say that drinking three cups of tea a day may stabilize our blood pressure. The benefits of tea are due to the flavonoid content – antioxidant ingredients that counteract cardiovascular disease. Black tea consumption resulted in 10 percent lower rates of blood pressure variability at night time than the free flavonoid drink. These effects were seen immediately on the first day of tea drinking and maintained over the six months.

 10. Drink Skim Milk

Changing the type of milk we drink is a dietary approach to treating high blood pressure. Fat-free or skim milk contains only 0.2 grams of fat, with 0.15 grams being saturated fat. Fat, especially saturated and trans fat, increases our risk of gaining weight. Carrying extra weight makes hypertension patient’s condition worse.

11. Drink Lemon Water

An ingredient in citrus fruit like lemon called auraptene (Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences, Feb.2015) can reduce high blood pressure.

12. Consume Honey

Honey has a soothing effect on our blood vessels and helps in reducing high blood pressure. Consuming 1 or 2 tbsp of honey daily will help us in controlling high blood pressure or hypertension.

13. Switch To Decaffeinated Coffee

Regular coffee contains high levels of caffeine, a stimulant known to increase blood pressure immediately. Decaffeinated coffee, usually contains little if any caffeine, making it much less likely to raise our blood pressure. Some evidence suggests that switching from regular to decaffeinated coffee could lead to a small decrease in blood pressure.

CONCLUSION

There are many natural ways to reduce high blood pressure. We can choose and apply the most suitable ways for us. It is better if we can monitor our blood pressure at home. It helps to alert us to potential health complications. It seems not too difficult to reduce blood pressure naturally, doesn’t it? What are your experiences in reducing high blood pressure? You can add your comment in the comment column and I will be more than happy to reply to your comment.

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