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.
Home Remedies For Managing High Blood Pressure
What is high blood pressure?
Blood pressure is the force at which blood pumps from the heart into the arteries. A normal blood pressure reading is less than 120/80 mm Hg.
When blood pressure is high, the blood moves through the arteries more forcefully. This puts increased pressure on the delicate tissues in the arteries and damages the blood vessels.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, affects about half of American adults, estimates the American College of Cardiology.
Known as a silent killer, it usually doesnt cause symptoms until theres significant damage done to the heart. Without visible symptoms, most people are unaware that they have high blood pressure.
What Else Can Help
In addition to adding hypertension-lowering drinks to your diet, you can try the following to help lower your blood pressure:
- Get moving. Incorporating physical activity into your daily routine may be as effective at lowering blood pressure as some medications. The American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes per week of moderate activity or 75 minutes per week of vigorous activity for health benefits.
- Shed excess pounds. If youre overweight or obese, your heart has to work harder to pump blood throughout your body. Even losing just a few pounds can help lower your blood pressure.
- Check out the DASH diet. The DASH diet, which was specially designed to prevent and treat hypertension, emphasizes unprocessed foods like fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins.
- Quit smoking. Each cigarette you smoke triggers a short-term increase in your blood pressure. Over the long-term, tobacco use can harden your arteries which, in turn, can lead to high blood pressure.
- Limit stress. Chronic stress can contribute to high blood pressure. Avoid stressors when you can, and try to find healthy ways to manage your stress. While not all sources of stress can be eliminated, setting aside time for relaxation may help calm your mind and lower your blood pressure.
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Habits That Prevent Hypertension
Salt can be a cause of hypertension. So watch that your daily intake of salt does NOT exceed 2300 mg per day. It is also very good to walk or do some sport. Remember not to eat too many sausages, beers or cured cheese. These foods have high levels of amines that promote hypertension.
Among the foods that improve your blood pressure are watermelons, kiwis, bananas, blueberry juices and skim milk. Hibiscus tea, coconut water, tofu and soy will also be very helpful. Generally, a healthy and balanced diet is one that will help you prevent dangerous rises in pressure.
If you think this article might be useful for other people, do not hesitate to it. There are lives at stake that, simply by making this information known, you can save.
Natural Ways To Lower Your Blood Pressure
Reducing high blood pressure without drugs is easier than you think.
May 26, 2013 — intro: High blood pressure is one of the most preventable conditions. But it plays a contributing role in more than 15 percent of deaths in the United States, according to a new Harvard study. Although it causes no symptoms, high blood pressure boosts the risks of leading killers such as heart attack and stroke, as well as aneurysms, cognitive decline, and kidney failure.
Twenty-eight percent of Americans have high blood pressure and don’t know it, according to the American Heart Association. If you haven’t had yours checked in 2 years, see a doctor. While medication can lower blood pressure, it may cause side effects such as leg cramps, dizziness, and insomnia. Fortunately, most people can bring down their blood pressure naturally without medication.
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quicklist: 1category: Natural Ways To Lower Your Blood Pressuretitle: Go for Power Walksurl: text: 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. Try increasing speed or distance to give your heart a better workout.
Delicious Ways To Lower Your Blood Pressure
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How To Take Your Own Blood Pressure Effectively
When taking your own blood pressure, its important to take it the right way to get accurate results. When and how you take your own BP can affect your results. Blood-pressure monitoring tips include:
- Take it easy before taking your BP. Rest for at least five minutes before your first measurement. Dont smoke, drink caffeinated beverages or exercise for 30 minutes before taking your BP. Dont talk while taking your BP.
- Take your BP with an empty bladder.
- Sit correctly. Sit with your back straight and well-supported make sure not to cross your legs and keep your feet flat on the floor.
- Position your arm correctly. Keep your upper arm at heart level. The way to do this will be a little different depending on whether youre using a wrist or upper-arm monitor, so follow the instructions for your device. Dont place blood pressure cuffs over your sleeves
- Measure at the same time every day. Many doctors will recommend taking your BP in the morning and evening. Dont take your BP right after you wake up.
- Take more than one reading and track your results. Take two or three readings about one minute apart. Some OMRON devices do this automatically and then give you an average of your readings. Take your monitor with you to doctor appointments. Some monitors called, wireless or connected, will allow you to store, track and share your results with your doctor from your mobile device.
Seek Help For Snoring
Loud, incessant snoring is a symptom of obstructive sleep apnea , a disorder that causes brief but dangerous breathing interruptions. Up to half of sleep apnea patients also live with hypertension, possibly due to high levels of aldosterone, a hormone that can boost blood pressure. Fixing sleep apnea could be helpful for improving BP, says Robert Greenfield, M.D., medical director of Non-Invasive Cardiology & Cardiac Rehabilitation at MemorialCare Heart & Vascular Institute.
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Cut Back On Sugar And Refined Carbohydrates
Many scientific studies show that restricting sugar and refined carbohydrates can help you lose weight and lower your blood pressure.
A 2010 study compared a low-carb diet to a low-fat diet. The low-fat diet included a diet drug. Both diets produced weight loss, but the low-carb diet was much more effective in lowering blood pressure.
The low-carb diet lowered blood pressure by 4.5 mm Hg diastolic and 5.9 mm Hg systolic. The diet of low-fat plus the diet drug lowered blood pressure by only 0.4 mm Hg diastolic and 1.5 mm Hg systolic .
A 2012 analysis of low-carb diets and heart disease risk found that these diets lowered blood pressure by an average of 3.10 mm Hg diastolic and 4.81 mm Hg systolic .
Another side effect of a low-carb, low-sugar diet is that you feel fuller longer, because youre consuming more protein and fat.
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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Benefits Of Taking A Hot Bath
In addition to lowering your blood pressure, there are plenty of other benefits to taking a hot bath.
For example, because hot water helps relax the body, taking a warm shower at night can help you fall asleep faster. Also, bathing regularly in warm water can result into cleaner and healthier skin, as well as helps provide relief for cold and flu symptoms.
So, not only does a hot bath lower blood pressure, but it also has other benefits, giving you a good reason to try and change up your shower preferences.
What Can I Eat To Lower My Blood Pressure
Theres actually a specific diet designed for heart health called the DASH Diet. It stands for dietary approaches to stop hypertension and was developed by the National Institutes of Health. Following the DASH Diet can lower blood pressure just as effectively as taking a pill, Dr. Osborne says. It highlights foods that are high in magnesium, potassium, and calcium, while limiting salt and sodium intake. Heres some of what youll eat on the diet.
- Fruit
- Kefir
- Dark chocolate in moderation
Some of the biggest things to eliminate are excess sodium , processed foods, sugar, condiments , bread, and cheese.
Apple cider vinegar has long been touted as a remedy for high blood pressure, but Dr. Osborne notes that no comprehensive clinical trial has been able to determine how effective it actually is. That being said, hes not against patients trying itif you find that taking apple cider vinegar every day keeps your blood pressure low, then keep doing it. Same for alcohol and caffeinated drinks, as long as youre having them in moderation.
People that drink modestly, so one to two drinks, may actually see a modest effect on cardiovascular events and may see modestly lower blood pressure, Dr. Osborne explains. However, if you drink anything more than that, it clearly elevates blood pressure.
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When To Seek Emergency Care
High blood pressure causes damage to your organs over time. However, its possible for BP to rise suddenly and cause what is called a hypertensive crisis. Hypertensive crises can manifest as either hypertensive urgency or hypertensive emergency.
When checking your blood pressure, measurements over 180 for systolic and 120 for diastolic are warning flags. Wait a few minutes before you check again. If readings still exceed 180/120, then this is indicative of a hypertensive emergency.
If left unchecked, a hypertensive emergency may have severe consequences. Possible outcomes of uncontrollable high blood pressure include:
- Stroke
Promote Healthy Cholesterol Too
Scientists at the University of California at Davis report blueberries can also reduce the build up of “bad” LDL cholesterol that contributes to cardiovascular problems.
Researchers with the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported results of an animal study showing blueberries were more effective in lowering cholesterol levels than the cholesterol medication, Ciprofibrater. Here’s the proof…
All the hamsters in the study were fed a high-cholesterol diet. One group received blueberry skins and the other group received the drug. The results?
The drug group lowered their cholesterol levels by 17%. Not bad. But the blueberry group lowered their cholesterol levels by an astounding 37%! Much betterand safer than prescription drugs!
Researchers attributed the cholesterol-lowering effect to a compound in blueberries called pterostilbene . This is an amazing compound that causes your liver cells to remove excess cholesterol.
Was this study a fluke?
Hardly!
In another study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, Canadian researchers supplemented the diet of pigs with about 2 cups of blueberries a day. The result?
The pigs’ low-density lipoprotein or “bad cholesterol” dropped 20%! That’s how powerful blueberries can be!
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How Exercise Affects Blood Pressure
Since 1988, Pescatellos research has focused on the acute, or daily, effects of exercise on blood pressure. In 1991, she published her breakthrough study, which found that that participants blood pressure was lower on days when they exercised. The effect, called post-exercise hypotension, reduced mean arterial pressure for 12.7 hours for people with high blood pressure. For those with hypertension, 30 minutes of cycling lowered blood pressure for the entire day.
Post-exercise hypotension also mediates daily blood pressure spikes. Its called circadian variation, Pescatello says. Blood pressure will be highest in the morning upon waking, and spikes during the day have to do with a surge in sympathetic nervous stimulation or arousal. Basically, our stressorsproblems at work, conflicts with partners, a long line at Starbuckswont raise our blood pressure as much if weve exercised that morning.
Blood pressure will return to baseline the following day, but continuous daily exercise is what lowers blood pressure in the long run. Structural adaptations begin to happen that will lower blood pressure, due to exercise training, Pescatello says. Those changes have been shown to happen within three to five days. Over a period of months, exercise can lower the average persons blood pressure by five to eight mmHg. If your blood pressure is 134/82, she says, by exercise alone, youre going to get out of the hypertensive range.
Maintain Healthy Blood Pressure And Lower Your Risk Of:
- Heart and brain problems!
- Mood swings!
Once I saw how well my three-step plan for battling blood pressure helped my patients, I worked closely to
- Clear out unwanted calcium from your arteries!
- Keep your arteries, veins and capillaries soft and supple!
- Help reduce blood vessel tightness and water retentionwith a natural ACE inhibitor!
- Vitamin K2 as MK-7to remove calcium from the walls and tissues of your arteries! Calcium deposits can turn your soft, supple, elastic arteries into rigid, lead pipeswaiting to burst. MK-7 functions as a “shuttle service”moving calcium out of your arteries and delivering that calcium into your boneswhere it’s needed! With MK-7 you get optimum cardiovascular protection and maximum bone health, too!
- Grapeseed Extract unique and exclusive grapeseed extract that’s clinically proven to help promote relaxed blood vessels. Its powerful vasodilating effect is why many medical experts call it “Nature’s calcium channel blocker!” it works by enhancing the production of nitric oxide a signaling molecule produced in your arteries to induce relaxation in the smooth muscles of your arteries. Relaxed arteries allow optimum blood flow without raising your blood pressure!
- Bluebery Extract – wild blueberry extractNature’s amazing ACE inhibitor! This remarkable super food helps block the formation of Angiotensin IIan amino acid peptide that constricts blood vessels and promotes water retentiona double whammy that often triggers unhealthy blood pressure!
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What Is The Pritikin Program For Lowering Blood Pressure
The Pritikin Program, taught by the dietitians, exercise physiologists, physicians, and psychologists at the Pritikin Longevity Center, addresses all the adverse effects associated with hypertension by:
- Providing at least 5 servings of vegetables and 4 servings of fruits daily, which help ensure that you eat plenty of foods that are full of stomach-filling volume yet are low in calories, enhancing weight-loss efforts. Losing excess weight is one of the most effective ways to lower blood pressure in the short term. Eating plenty of nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables also means youll be eating excellent sources of potassium, magnesium, and calcium. Many studies have found that foods rich in these minerals help blunt some of the toxic effects of sodium.
- Cutting back on calorie-dense foods loaded with fat, sugar, and/or refined grains to promote weight-loss efforts.
- Limiting the consumption of sodium to a healthy level less than 1,500 mg daily for people under 50 years, less than 1,300 mg daily for those 50 to 69 years, and no more than 1,200 mg daily for people 70 years and older.
- Discouraging excess alcohol drinking .
- Adding a daily exercise regime that aids in weight loss and stimulates nitric oxide production, a beneficial chemical that relaxes muscles in the artery walls and lowers blood pressure.
- Getting an adequate intake of calcium, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin D by consuming moderate amounts of nonfat dairy foods or soymilk, seafood, and a little sunshine.
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Consuming natural foods, along with cutting out salt, will have you eating well and avoiding heart disease
High blood pressure, also known as “the silent killer,” is an epidemic in our nation. It typically has no warning signs or symptoms, and many people don’t realize they have it, which is why we must all get it checked regularly. Over time, unaddressed elevated blood pressure can have disastrous consequences including stroke, heart attack, blindness and kidney failure.
Every 39 seconds, someone in this country dies of cardiovascular disease. And despite the fact that the largest risk factor in these deaths high blood pressure is both preventable and reversible, as many as 67 million American adults live with high blood pressure, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Alarmingly, 47 percent of those with a diagnosis have not gotten their blood pressure under control, according to government research. And many of those afflicted don’t adhere to recommended medication regimens because of the drugs’ side effects.
Medications are highly effective in bringing down blood pressure, when taken properly. But what you eat also has a dramatic impact. The government-endorsed Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension diet has been proven as effective as prescription medication in reducing blood pressure.
Here are 5 surprising and delicious foods from my Blood Pressure DOWN action plan:
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