If you’ve been diagnosed with high blood pressure or hypertension, you may worry that meds will affect you negatively.
But, it’s crucial to note that if you manage your blood pressure through a healthy lifestyle, your chances of avoiding, delaying or lowering the need for meds increase.
When not treated, hypertension can damage the heart and put you at a higher risk of heart illness and stroke. It’s good to know that there are a lot of effective lifestyle improvements you can try and fight off high blood pressure naturally.
Check out 5 such recommendations below…
5 Tips to Reduce High Blood Pressure Naturally
- Eat less salt
High consumption of salt has been associated with hypertension and heart-related problems like strokes.
If you have high blood pressure, try reducing your salt consumption to see if it helps. Eat less processed foods and replace them with fresh ingredients and healthy seasonings like spices and herbs instead of salt.
- Eat foods abundant in potassium
Potassium is a vital mineral which helps our body remove sodium and lower the pressure on the blood vessels.
To balance your sodium and potassium levels, consume less processed foods and more fresher and whole foods.
Foods abundant in potassium include veggies like tomatoes, potatoes and leafy greens; fruits like bananas, oranges, and melons; dairy like yogurt and milk; nuts and seeds; tuna and salmon; as well as beans.
- Manage stress
Stress is a driver of high blood pressure and when a person is chronically experiencing stress; their body is in a fight-or-flight mode constantly. On a physical level, this speeds up the heart rate and constricts the blood vessels.
Stress can also cause people to engage in other unhealthy habits like alcohol consumption or unhealthy foods and thus, cause the blood pressure to continue being high.
Therefore, it’s crucial to find effective methods for stress management, for example, listening to calming music and reducing the work stress. Yoga and meditation can also be of aid.
- Reduce body weight
People who’re overweight can benefit a lot from losing weight. Namely, even a 5 percent loss of body mass can help you decrease your blood pressure.
The impact is even better when you lose weight and introduce regular exercise. When your weight and height are in balance, your blood vessels work better in the expansion and contraction and the pumping of blood is easier for the heart.
- Cease smoking
If you want to reduce your risk of heart illness, make sure you quit smoking. Every puffing of a cigarette slightly increases your blood pressure and the chemicals from tobacco can damage your blood vessels.
But, studies haven’t discovered a strong link between hypertension and smoking. Some experts believe that this is a result of the tolerance smokers develop as the time goes by.
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