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How Can I Lower My High Blood Pressure

How To Lower Blood Pressure Naturally

Lowering Blood Pressure in 5 Minutes

The term lifestyle changes implies you will need to change your habits to bring your blood pressure down. Broadly speaking, these modifications are natural non-pharmaceutical ways of lowering blood pressure. Six methods have been proven effective in clinical studies, and two others are recommended:

Fighting Back Against The Silent Killer

High blood pressure is a symptomless silent killer that quietly damages blood vessels and leads to serious health problems.

While there is no cure, using medications as prescribed and making lifestyle changes can enhance your quality of life and reduce your risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and more.

Keep Yourself At A Healthy Weight

Having overweight or obesity increases your risk for high blood pressure. To determine whether your weight is in a healthy range, doctors often calculate your body mass index . If you know your weight and height, you can calculate your BMI at CDCs Assessing Your Weight website. Doctors sometimes also use waist and hip measurements to assess body fat.

Talk with your health care team about ways to reach a healthy weight, including choosing healthy foods and getting regular physical activity.

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Living With High Blood Pressure

Controlling your high blood pressure is a lifelong commitment. You will always need to monitor your weight, make healthy food choices, exercise, learn to cope with stress, avoid smoking, and limit your alcohol intake. If you need medicine to control your high blood pressure, you will likely need it all your life.

Additionally, you will need to get used to regular blood pressure checks. Your doctor may want you to come to the office regularly. Or you may be asked to check your blood pressure at home and keep track of your numbers for your doctor. Some pharmacies and retail clinics have blood pressure machines on site. You can buy your own, automated arm blood pressure cuff for use at home. Your doctor may want you to check your blood pressure several times a day. Another option is to use an ambulatory blood pressure monitor.

Does Drinking Water Lower Blood Pressure

What Can I Do To Improve My High Blood Pressure?

Jason DelCollo, DO, board-certified in family medicine. He is associate faculty at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine as well as adjunct faculty with the Crozer Family Medicine Residency Program, and is an attending physician at Glen Mills Family Medicine in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania.

High blood pressure affects 1 in 3 adults in the United States.

When a person has high blood pressure, the blood flow through the arteries is higher than normal.

There are ways to prevent and treat high blood pressure. It starts with your lifestyle. Exercising regularly will keep your heart healthy and stress levels low. In addition, mindfulness activities such as meditation, yoga, and journaling can help reduce stress.

Maintaining a nutrient-rich diet will also help. Reduce your consumption of processed foods, sugar, alcohol, and fried foods. Also, it’s best to avoid tobacco if you smoke.

Along with a healthy diet, drinking water and staying properly hydrated can also help maintain healthy blood pressure.

This article will discuss the connection between hydration and heart health and explain the recommended water intake.

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What Should I Do If I Have High Blood Pressure

If your healthcare provider has diagnosed you with high blood pressure, they will talk with you about your recommended blood pressure target or goal. They may suggest that you:

  • Check your blood pressure regularly with a home blood pressure monitor. These are automated electronic monitors and are available at most pharmacies or online.
  • Quit smoking and/or using tobacco products.
  • Work on controlling anger and managing stress.

What Is The Best Exercise For High Blood Pressure

Different kinds of exercise and activity have different effects on your body. If you have high blood pressure, focus on aerobic activities as these will help your heart and blood vessels most, but avoid activities which put too much strain on your heart.

Helpful exercises aerobic exercise Aerobic exercises are repetitive and rhythmic movements which get your heart, lungs, blood vessels and muscles working. They use the large muscle groups of your body, such as those in your legs, shoulders and arms. Walking, jogging, swimming, dancing and heaving gardening, such as digging, are all aerobic activities.

Exercises to avoidSome other forms of activity are less helpful. For example, any exercise that is very intensive for short periods of time, such as sprinting or weightlifting. They raise your blood pressure very quickly and put too much strain on your heart and blood vessels.

Some extreme sports such as scuba diving or parachuting can be dangerous if your blood pressure is not under control. You will need a medical certificate from your doctor to start or continue doing them.

Use the table below to get an idea of the types of exercises and activities that are safe and those to avoid:

Helpful activities for lowering blood pressure

Activities that are good for your blood pressure

Activities to avoid

Talk to your doctor or nurse before starting any of these

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Get In A Quiet Room And Calm Yourself Down

If you are in a crowded place, shelter yourself in a quiet room immediately.

The undertone is to get away from the crowd. High BP triggers anxiety and breathlessness which needs isolation.

However, its advisable to keep a friend around just in case the situation goes out of hand.

But it is important to get away from the crowd and focus on yourself to get a hold of yourself.

Erratic heartbeat, ragged breathing, and flashes of warmth are signs of hypertension. Therefore, these are the signs you should look out for!

Tips For Getting More Active

Best Ways To Lower Your High Blood Pressure

Some people find it difficult to find the time to be active, or you may find it hard to keep active for 30 minutes in one go. Keep moving, stick with it, and remember even a little can make a difference. Just do what you can, and use these tips to get started.

Start smallSet yourself small goals that add up. To get started, split your 30 minutes into two 15-minute or three 10-minute sessions. This will help you build up your strength and get used to your new activity. Build up to the full 30 minutes over a few weeks.

Find a training buddyIf you find the idea of being active boring, get other people involved. Ask your family and friends, or even a colleague. Exercise can be a lot more fun with other people.

Find an activity you enjoyThe main thing is to enjoy what youre doing. If exercise feels like punishment, youre more likely to give up. If you find something you like doing, youll soon see the benefits, and youre more likely to keep going.

Set goals which arent about your bodyWorking towards a goal that means something to you can keep you interested in what youre doing, getting you fitter in the process. For example, running a mile or entering a competition, it doesnt matter what it is, as long as it keeps you motivated.

Find something within your budget

Use these ideas to get you started

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S You Can Take To Overcome Resistant Hypertension

Dr. Thomas offers eight tips for managing hypertension. If you do these things, youll know youre doing all you can to help:

  • Make sure youre taking your hypertension medication correctly and at the scheduled time.
  • If your medication is causing unpleasant side effects, talk to your doctor about alternatives dont just stop taking it.
  • Follow a low-sodium diet .
  • Follow the DASH diet, which includes lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean protein.
  • Exercise regularly but talk to your doctor first if its been awhile since you were physically active. Easing into an exercise program slowly can be your best bet.
  • Limit the amount of processed foods you eat theyre usually high in sodium.
  • Limit your alcohol intake.
  • Learn to check your blood pressure at home. Ask your doctor to help you create a monitoring schedule. Log the results and bring them to your doctors appointments. Have your blood pressure machine checked for accuracy at least once a year.
  • Managing hypertension isnt always easy, but making these changes is worth the effort. They will go a long way toward reducing your risk of heart disease and stroke.

    Nix Your Nicotine Addiction

    Each cigarette you smoke temporarily raises blood pressure for several minutes after you finish. If youre a heavy smoker, your blood pressure can stay elevated for extended periods of time.

    People with high blood pressure who smoke are at greater risk for developing dangerously high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke.

    Even secondhand smoke can put you at increased risk for high blood pressure and heart disease.

    Aside from providing numerous other health benefits, quitting smoking can help your blood pressure return to normal. Visit our smoking cessation center to take steps to quit today.

    Drinking a glass of red wine with your dinner is perfectly fine. It might even offer heart-health benefits when done in moderation.

    But drinking excessive amounts of alcohol can lead to lots of health issues, including high blood pressure.

    Excessive drinking can also reduce the effectiveness of certain blood pressure medications.

    What does drinking in moderation mean? The AHA recommends that men limit their consumption to two alcoholic drinks per day. Women should limit their intake to one alcoholic drink per day.

    One drink equals:

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    Water And Heart Health

    To improve cardiovascular health, it’s important to drink an adequate amount of water to keep your body hydrated and functioning properly. For some, plain water is fine. If you need a boost for taste, you can infuse your water with mint, cucumber, lemon, lime, and berries, among other healthy options.

    Vitamins and minerals such as calcium and magnesium are known to reduce blood pressure. One study performed in Bangladesh found that adding calcium and magnesium to your water can help in lowering blood pressure. By consuming these minerals through water, the body can absorb them more easily. Before adding any new vitamins or minerals to your hydration regime, consult your doctor. They can help you make the right decision.

    Home Blood Pressure Monitoring

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    Your doctor may recommend you take measurements yourself while at home. This may help them understand how your blood pressure changes throughout the day or how its responding to treatment.

    Some pharmacies offer blood pressure checks too.

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    How I Lowered My Blood Pressure In Two Days

    Nutrition, Wellness |

    UPDATE: I visited my naturopath 10 days after starting this protocol, and my BP was down to 128/78. AND I was nervous about her taking it, something that used to jack it up historically. This protocol WORKS!

    Are you concerned about your blood pressure? Or maybe youre on meds and would like to lower or taper off them? If youre looking for natural solutions to lower your blood pressure, youve come to the right place.

    Recently Id been stressed and feeling off, dizzy, and wired. I decided to measure my blood pressure and was shocked to find it read 140-150/90! So, I went to work and put myself on a protocol.

    We all know that blood pressure is the pressure of the blood in the circulatory system, and its measured with a blood pressure cuff, typically whenever you visit your doctor. If your blood pressure is high, it means your heart is working too hard to pump blood through your body, increasing the force on arterial walls and causing weakness in your blood vessels. This makes the vessels more prone to rupture or tiny tears that leave scar tissue on the walls of arteries and veins, increasing the risk of blockage and upping heart attack and stroke risk.

    High BP may not cause any symptoms, which is why its called the silent killer, but it may cause chronic headache or dizziness.

    Drugs And Supplements To Avoid With High Blood Pressure

    It’s just as important to avoid substances that can increase your blood pressure as it is to make lifestyle changes and take blood pressure medications.

    Here is a list of substances to avoid if you have high blood pressure:

    • Over-the-counter “decongestant” cold medications that contain pseudoephedrine or phenylephrine, like Sudafed
    • Chronic use of NSAIDs , like Motrin , Advil , and Aleve
    • Black licorice
    • Cocaine

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    Natural Ways With Potential

    If you do an Internet search, youll find dozens of other natural ways to lower blood pressure. They may be effective, but the evidence is limited or questionable.

    Take stress reduction, for example. In 2017, the American Heart Association issued a scientific statement on the role of meditation in cardiovascular riskreduction. The AHA determined the concept was plausible, but the studies included too few subjects and used different endpoints, which made drawing conclusions impossible.

    Some studies showed significant benefit, and others showed none. There simply wasnt enough data to say that meditation consistently lowers blood pressure, says Dr. Laffin. More likely, anything that relaxes you decreases blood pressure temporarily, but isnt a solution for people with sustained hypertension.

    The same issue applies to various foods, spices, herbs and vitamins. You will probably find a study or two on each that says it lowers blood pressure, but these have never been robustly studied, he says.

    If you are serious about using natural ways to lower blood pressure, choose one or more methods that have stood the test of time.

    This article originally appeared in Cleveland Clinic Heart Advisor.

    How Can I Prevent High Blood Pressure

    How I BREATHE to lower my BLOOD PRESSURE

    You can help prevent high blood pressure by having a healthy lifestyle. This means:

    If you already have high blood pressure, it is important to prevent it from getting worse or causing complications. You should get regular medical care and follow your prescribed treatment plan. Your plan will include healthy lifestyle habit recommendations and possibly medicines.

    NIH: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute

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    What Is Considered High Blood Pressure

    Blood pressure changes naturally throughout the day. This depends on many factors, including whether you are sitting, standing, exercising or sleeping, and upon how much fluid is in your body.

    High blood pressure is when a persons blood pressure is persistently higher than it should be: usually 140/90mmHg or higher. Your doctor will need to take several measurements at different times before they can diagnose high blood pressure.

    The decision to treat high blood pressure doesnt just depend on your measurements it also depends on your other risk factors for heart disease and blood vessel disease.

    The Australian guidelines for classifying blood pressure ranges are:

    Systolic
    90 and over

    What Is High Blood Pressure

    High blood pressure or hypertension is the silent killer that affects 80 million Americans. As many as 16 million Americans are unaware of the condition. Untreated hypertension can increase the risk of heart diseases or strokes. High blood pressure occurs due to the tightening of very small blood vessels called arterioles. As a result, the heart has to pump harder to overcome the resistance in the narrowed blood vessel bed. This leads to elevated pressure inside the vessels.

    • High blood pressure or hypertension is when readings consistently range from 140 or higher for systolic or 90 or higher for diastolic.
    • Blood pressure readings above 180/120 mmHg are dangerously high and require immediate medical attention.

    High blood pressure is more likely to cause

    • heart attack

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    Eat Healthy High Protein Foods

    A long-term study concluded in 2014 found that people who ate more protein had a lower risk of high blood pressure. For those who ate an average of 100 grams of protein per day, there was a 40 percent lower risk of having high blood pressure than those on a low protein diet .

    Those who also added regular fiber into their diet saw up to a 60 percent reduction of risk.

    However, a high protein diet may not be for everyone. Those with kidney disease may need to use caution. Its best to talk with your doctor.

    Its fairly easy to consume 100 grams of protein daily on most types of diets.

    A 3.5-ounce serving of salmon can have as much as 22 grams of protein, while a 3.5-ounce serving of chicken breast might contain 30 grams of protein.

    With regard to vegetarian options, a half-cup serving of most types of beans contains 7 to 10 grams of protein. Two tablespoons of peanut butter would provide 8 grams .

    These supplements are readily available and have demonstrated promise for lowering blood pressure:

    Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid

    Adding omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids or fish oil to your diet can have many benefits.

    A meta-analysis of fish oil and blood pressure found a mean blood pressure reduction in those with high blood pressure of 4.5 mm Hg systolic and 3.0 mm Hg diastolic .

    Whey protein

    This protein complex derived from milk may have several health benefits in addition to possibly lowering blood pressure .

    Magnesium

    Citrulline

    What Medications Are Used To Treat High Blood Pressure

    How To Lower Blood Pressure Fast Without Medications And ...

    Four classes of high blood pressure medications are considered first line when starting treatment. Sometimes other medications are coupled with these first-line drugs to better control your high blood pressure. First-line, pressure-lowering medications are:

    • Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors block the production of the angiotensin II hormone, which the body naturally uses to control blood pressure. When angiotensin II is blocked, your blood vessels dont narrow. Examples: lisinopril , enalapril or captopril.
    • Angiotensin II receptor blockers block this same hormone from binding with receptors in the blood vessels. ARBs work the same way as ACE inhibitors to keep blood vessels from narrowing. Examples: metoprolol , valsartan or losartan.
    • Calcium channel blockers prevent calcium from entering the muscle cells of your heart and blood vessels, allowing these vessels to relax. Examples: amlodipine , nifedipine , diltiazem .
    • Diuretics flush excess sodium from your body, reducing the amount of fluid in your blood. Diuretics are often used with other high blood pressure medicines, sometimes in one combined pill. Examples: indapamide, hydrochlorothiazide or chlorothiazide.

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