How Do I Know If I Have High Blood Pressure
High blood pressure, which is also called hypertension, doesnt usually cause symptoms. So you wont know if you have high blood pressure without it being measured by a health professional.
Some people may experience headaches, nosebleeds or feel short of breath, but these symptoms usually only occur when blood pressure is dangerously high.
Untreated high blood pressure raises your risk of heart disease, stroke and chronic kidney disease.
Around 1 in 3 Australians have been diagnosed with hypertension.
Take Blood Pressure Medications As Prescribed
The American Heart Association state that people should take their blood pressure medications according to their doctors exact instructions. People should never quit or cut back on their medications unless their doctor has advised them to do so.
If a person has trouble remembering to take their blood pressure medications, they should set up daily reminders on their phone or other devices.
High Blood Pressure Is A Dangerous Condition That Can Damage Your Heart It Affects One In Three And 1 Billion People Worldwide
If left uncontrolled, high blood pressure raises your risk of heart disease and stroke.
But theres good news. There are a number of things you can do to lower your blood pressure naturally, even without medication.
Here are 15 natural ways to combat high blood pressure.
1.Walk and exercise regularly
Also Check: Low Blood Pressure Heart Problems
And Munch On Some Watermelon Too
If you’re not a big fan of blueberries, then consider upping your watermelon intake instead. One 2014 study published in the American Journal of Hypertension found that over the course of 12 weeks, overweight individuals who were given two types of watermelon extract saw improvements in both their blood pressure and cardiac stress.
Keep Your Stress Levels Under Control
According to the American Heart Association, the hormones that the body releases during times of stress “prepare the body for the ‘fight or flight’ response” by constricting blood vesselsand this, in turn, temporarily raises blood pressure. Therefore, learning to limit your stress levels could be just as effective a remedy for hypertension as medication. And for ways to keep calm, check out these 12 Genius Tricks for Turning Anxiety into Excitement.
To discover more amazing secrets about living your best life,
Read Also: Claritin Side Effects Blood Pressure
Its Not Only Your Diet That Affects Your Blood Pressure Its Your Lifestyle Overall
How active you are, whether you smoke and how much alcohol you drink, for example, all make a big difference. In this section, we look at what affects your blood pressure and the best things you can do to lower your blood pressure naturally.
The best part is, all these changes will work together to keep your heart and your body healthy.
See if what you drink is within the recommended guidelines and find out how many units your favourite drinks contain its often more than you think.
Being overweight can raise your blood pressure and put extra strain on your heart. By keeping to a healthy weight, you can look after your blood pressure and your heart.
Exercise can keep you healthy, but it doesnt have to mean running marathons. See how you can be more active and keep it going in the long term.
Stopping smoking is one of the best things you can do for your blood pressure and your overall health. Find out about the benefits and who can help.
Think your high blood pressure is all down to stress? See what the science shows.
Did you know that the amount of sleep you have can affect your blood pressure?
There are lots of simple changes you can make to what you eat to lower your blood pressure, such as eating more fruit and veg and choosing foods low in salt.
Limit Your Alcohol Consumption
People looking to lower their blood pressure naturally should aim for “moderate alcohol consumption,” says David Cutler, MD, a family medicine physician at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in California. As the Mayo Clinic notes, heavy drinkers who stop indulging as frequently can see as much as a 4 mmHg reduction in their systolic blood pressure.
Recommended Reading: Can Claritin D Cause High Blood Pressure
How Long Does It Take To Come Down
The length of time it takes to lower blood pressure will vary from person to person.
In addition, some methods for lowering blood pressure will work for some people, but not for others. A person should start seeing changes within a few days to weeks of making the necessary lifestyle and dietary changes.
High blood pressure rarely causes symptoms. People may only discover that they have high blood pressure during a routine visit to their doctor, or after developing complications, such as a heart attack or stroke.
Some symptoms that may be indirectly related to high blood pressure include:
- blood spots in the eyes
How I Lowered My Blood Pressure In Two Days
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.
Recommended Reading: Claritin And Hypertension
How Can I Lower My Blood Pressure
High blood pressure can be treated through lifestyle changes and medicines. Everyone with high blood pressure, regardless of whether theyre on medication, should follow the lifestyle recommendations . Some people will find lifestyle improvements mean they dont need blood pressure medicines or they can take a lower dosage.
These are the Australian recommendations for lifestyle changes to lower blood pressure. If you are an older Australian or have a chronic condition , your doctor will tell you which lifestyle changes are suitable for you.
Understanding Your Blood Pressure Numbers
Hypertension often has no symptoms, so its important to check your blood pressure regularly. Understanding your results is the first step to managing high blood pressure.
Blood pressure is recorded as two numbers:
- Systolic blood pressurethe first numbermeasures the pressure in your blood vessels when your heart beats.
- Diastolic blood pressurethe second numbermeasures the pressure in your blood vessels when your heart rests between beats.
Don’t Miss: What Causes Blood Pressure To Increase
First Why Is Your Blood Pressure High
Its natural to experience short-term spikes in blood pressure, like during exercise or after a cup of coffee. But over time, if your heart consistently pumps out more blood than usual or your blood vessels become stiffer, your blood pressure can stay high, which may lead to hypertension. Many things can cause this to happen, including eating too much salt, being overweight, or even taking certain medications that can cause high blood pressure as a side effect.
You might know that a blood pressure reading has two numbers . The American Heart Association describes normal blood pressure as a first number of 120 or less and a second number of 80 or less.
Why Lowering Your Bp Matters
Over time, high blood pressure can lead to an array of health complications. HBP does not have symptoms, so its especially important to visit your primary physician on a regular basis. They will be able to determine if your blood pressure is abnormal and prescribe a treatment plan for you.
HPB can lead to:
- Damage to your heart and arteries
- Memory loss
- Vision loss
You May Like: Low To Lower Blood Pressure
How To Lower Blood Pressure Quickly And Naturally
When someone has high blood pressure, also known as hypertension, it means their blood is pumping with too much force against the artery walls. The condition can eventually lead to heart disease, stroke, or other cardiac conditions. High blood pressure is extremely common in the United States. More than 103 million people in the country have itand many dont even know theirs is too high, because it can be asymptomatic, says John Osborne, MD, director of cardiology at LowT Center/HerKare and a volunteer for the American Heart Association .
The reason many people dont know? There are often few or no symptoms associated with high blood pressure, says Sondra DePalma, a cardiac physician assistant at PinnacleHealth CardioVascular Institute with UPMC Pinnacle in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which is why it is called the silent killer.
If youre wondering how to lower blood pressure, luckily, there are natural ways to do so with the proper diet and healthy lifestyle changes.
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.
Recommended Reading: Can Apple Watch Test Blood Pressure
Eat More Potassium And Less Sodium
Increasing your potassium intake and cutting back on salt can also lower your blood pressure .
Potassium is a double winner: It lessens the effects of salt in your system and eases tension in your blood vessels. However, diets rich in potassium may be harmful to people with kidney disease, so talk with your doctor before increasing your potassium intake.
Its easy to eat more potassium. So many foods are naturally high in potassium. Here are a few:
- chips
- other processed snacks
Foods labeled low fat are usually high in salt and sugar to compensate for the loss of fat. Fat is what gives food taste and makes you feel full.
Cutting down on or even better, cutting out processed food will help you eat less salt, less sugar, and fewer refined carbohydrates. All of this can result in lower blood pressure.
Make it a practice to check nutrition labels. According to the Food and Drug Administration , a sodium listing of 5 percent or less on a food label is considered low, while 20 percent or more is considered high (
Vitamin C Is A Good Natural Remedy For High Blood Pressure
One of the best vitamins for treating hypertension is vitamin C because of its benefits to the health of your arteries.
A systematic review of 29 trials found that taking 500 mg of vitamin C a day helped to quickly treat high blood pressure problems. Over an 8-week period, vitamin C supplementation was effective in lowering both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
Find out more about the benefits of taking vitamin C to strengthen your immunity and prevent oxidative damage in your body.
Don’t Miss: Spicy Food Blood Pressure
Easy Things You Can Do To Lower Your Blood Pressure
High blood pressure is dangerous. It can lead to many health problems, including heart attack, stroke, heart failure, angina, coronary artery disease, peripheral artery disease, kidney disease, vision loss, sexual dysfunction and more.
Fortunately, high blood pressure can often be prevented or controlled.
Here are some easy things you can do to lower your blood pressure or help prevent high blood pressure in the first place.
Set small, easily attainable goals, and when you reach them, set bigger ones. Step by step, you will take control of your health and your blood pressure.
Try These Medicinal Herbs
Herbal medicines have long been used in many cultures to treat a variety of ailments.
Some herbs have even been shown to possibly lower blood pressure. However, more research is needed to identify the doses and components in the herbs that are most useful.
Always check with your doctor or pharmacist before taking herbal supplements. They may interfere with your prescription medications.
Heres a partial list of plants and herbs that are used by cultures throughout the world to lower blood pressure:
- black bean
- river lily
- Avoid daytime naps.
- Make your bedroom comfortable.
The 2010 national Sleep Heart Health Study found that regularly sleeping fewer than 7 hours a night and more than 9 hours a night was associated with an increased rate of high blood pressure.
Regularly sleeping fewer than 5 hours a night was linked to a significant risk of high blood pressure long term .
Don’t Miss: Vinegar To Lower Blood Pressure
Measuring And Managing Stress:
Have you ever been late to an important meeting? Maybe a doctors appointment or a wedding? Theres nothing worse than to be caught in traffic when you know you are running late. If you mess up a job assignment or have to deal with a difficult person it is also highly stressful.
Research has demonstrated that even the stress of video games can have negative consequences. Investigators measured blood pressure changes in young adults while they played really hard video games.
More than a decade later they performed CT scans of their coronary arteries. Subjects who had reacted with elevations in their blood pressure during the psychological stress experiments with video games had an increased risk of developing calcification of their coronary arteries more than 13 years later .
Blood pressure readings are usually lower on weekends than on weekdays . We suspect that is because work can be stressful and weekends can be relaxing.
Drinking Alcohol Can Raise Blood Pressure In Fact Alcohol Is Linked To 16% Of High Blood Pressure Cases Around The World
While some research has suggested that low-to-moderate amounts of alcohol may protect the heart, those benefits may be offset by adverse effects.
According to studies, moderate alcohol consumption is defined as no more than one drink a day for women and two for men. If you drink more than that, cut back.
Bottom line: Drinking alcohol in any quantity may raise your blood pressure. Limit your drinking in line with the recommendations.
4.Eat more potassium-rich foods
Potassium is an important mineral.
It helps your body get rid of sodium and eases pressure on your blood vessels.
Modern diets have increased most peoples sodium intake while decreasing potassium intake.
To get a better balance of potassium to sodium in your diet, focus on eating fewer processed foods and more fresh, whole foods.
Foods that are particularly high in potassium include:
- vegetables, especially leafy greens, tomatoes, potatoes, and sweet potatoes
- fruit, including melons, bananas, avocados, oranges, and apricots
- dairy, such as milk and yogurt
- tuna and salmon
- nuts and seeds
- beans
Bottom line: Eating fresh fruits and vegetables, which are rich in potassium, can help lower blood pressure.
5.Cut back on caffeine
If youve ever downed a cup of coffee before youve had your blood pressure taken, youll know that caffeine causes an instant boost.
However, theres not a lot of evidence to suggest that drinking caffeine regularly can cause a lasting increase.
6.Learn to manage stress8. Lose weight11.
Read Also: What Can U Take For High Blood Pressure
What Is A Dangerous Level Of Blood Pressure
As far as specific numbers for high blood pressure, the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology released updated guidelines in November 2017. It can be broken down into two categories: elevated and high.
Elevated blood pressure ranges from 121/80 to 129/80. Its generally not treated, but serves more as a warning sign that it should be monitored and the patient might explore how to lower blood pressure by making some lifestyle changes.
High blood pressure starts at 130/80 or higherthats stage one. Stage two, or the worst degree, is 140/90 and above. If the upper limit of blood pressure is more than 180, thats where it starts getting really dangerous, increasing the likelihood of an immediate heart attack, heart failure, or stroke.