These simple remedies can lower your blood pressure quickly

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The American Heart Association estimates that 76.4 million adults have high blood pressure in the USA. That is the combined populations of four countries in Europe – Spain, Greece, Portugal and Norway.

As of 2014, approximately one billion adults of the world’s population have high blood pressure.

Why?

We will take a look at the causes, meaning and remedies of high blood pressure in this post.

First of all, what is blood pressure?

Blood pressure is the force of the blood pushing against the blood vessels. While high blood pressure (also known as hypertension) is when the blood pressure is above normal.

Measuring blood pressure: The best way of getting your blood pressure measured is by visiting your doctor.

A one time reading of your blood pressure cannot ascertain if you are hypertensive or not. This is because daily activities, foods and one’s mood (excitement or anxiety) can temporarily affect the blood pressure.

For instance, the blood pressure increases after a salty meal. But it goes back to normal after a while.

Your correct blood pressure can only be ascertained after different measurements over different periods of time.

Blood pressure is measured using a Sphygmomanometer and stethoscope. During the measurement, two readings are usually taken;

Systolic pressure: This is the pressure of the blood when the heart beats, while pumping blood.

Diastolic pressure: This is the pressure of the blood in between heart beats, when the heart is at rest.

Example of a blood pressure reading is 120/80mmHg (It is pronounced; “120 over 80 millimeter of mercury).

120 is the systolic pressure while 80 is the diastolic pressure. Systolic is always the top number while diastolic is the bottom number.

When is the blood pressure normal or abnormal?

Blood pressure differs with age and size. In infants it is usually low which is normal for them. And the normal blood pressure for adults and older teens is less than 120/80mmHg

A blood pressure with a systolic number between 120 and 139 and/or with a diastolic number between 80 and 89 is at the pre-hypertension stage (abnormal).

Pre-hypertension stage can easily advance to hypertension. It becomes hypertension when it is above the pre-hypertension reading.

High blood Pressure (hypertension): You may have high blood pressure if your blood pressure reading is 140/90mmHg or above over a couple of weeks.

High blood pressure is very dangerous. It weakens and damages the blood vessels and can lead to heart attack, stroke, kidney disease, eye damage, hardening of the arteries.

Symptoms of high blood pressure: Most people with high blood pressure show no signs or symptoms. That is why it is called the silent killer. It can slowly and silently cause havoc to your body system.

However, few people may have symptoms of headache, shortness of breath, nose bleeding, light headedness, palpitations. But these signs may show when it is at a life threatening stage.

Causes of High Blood Pressure: There is no one particular thing that causes high blood pressure. But there are different things that can contribute to it; they are

1.       Physical inactivity

2.      Eating too much salt

3.       Not taking enough fruits and vegetables

4.       Taking excess alcohol and smoking

5.       If someone in your family has suffered/suffers from high blood pressure

6.       Age: a bad life style over time can accumulate to you having high blood pressure as you get older.

7.       Obesity

8.       Chronic conditions like diabetes, sleep apnea

9.       Steroid medications and birth control pills.

10.   Stress

11.   Overweight

12.   pregnancy

Simple Remedies that can lower your blood pressure quickly

For you to lower your blood pressure, you must have a permanent change of life style. A lifestyle change will also prevent a pre-hypertensive person from becoming hypertensive. The life style changes are;

1.     Diet: 

It is very important to put your diet into consideration. This is because, what you eat can affect your blood pressure. You have to diligently incorporate the following diet tips;

Reduce sodium intake: Sodium is important in the body but the average person takes more than the required amount.

When there is excess sodium, fluid is retained in the body. Because sodium attracts water. And when fluid is retained, the volume of the blood is increased.

This increase in blood volume makes the heart to work harder and the blood pressure is increased.

But you should not avoid sodium totally. Rather, you have to reduce the intake of foods that contain sodium. Reduce your intake of bread, cheese, processed meat, pizza, snacks (chips, popcorn), soup, cheeseburgers, salt (the salt you add to your food and some other food condiments contain high amounts of sodium).

You can use herbs and spices (like parsley, basil, cumin, thyme, chili powder, cilantro, lemon) in place of some food condiments. These herbs and spices will add flavor to your meals as to reduce your salt-intake.

The recommended amount of sodium intake for people with high blood pressure is 1500mg per day. Read food labels to know the amount of sodium they contain.

Avoid processed and packaged foods even if they don’t taste salty. They have high sodium content.

Eat more of home cooked meals, fruits and vegetables.

Increase potassium intake: The presence of potassium helps the walls of the blood vessels to relax. And different studies have confirmed the health benefits of potassium when it comes to reducing the blood pressure.

Again, potassium also helps to reduce the sodium level in the body.

The American Heart Association recommends a daily potassium intake of 4700mg for adults. But it's better to take foods high in potassium than to take potassium supplements.

This is because people with kidney disease or older people may find it difficult to remove excess potassium.

However, if you must take potassium supplements, consult with your doctor first.

Foods rich in potassium include green leafy vegetables, potato, orange, banana, beans, citrus fruits, tomatoes, melons, yogurt, fish, kiwi, peas, milk, mush rooms.

Please note ― increasing your potassium intake should not make you to forget about reducing your sodium intake.

Take more of fruits and vegetables: Fruits and vegetables are rich in nutrients that will reduce your blood pressure.

And different studies have confirmed that increased intake of fruits and vegetables reduces the blood pressure.

Fruits and vegetables also contain dietary fibers that will help you to keep a healthy weight.

However, no one fruit or vegetable contains all nutrients needed. Go for different varieties.

Again, canned fruits and vegetables may not be good because they contain high levels of sodium used as preservatives.

Reduce your coffee intake: It is still not clear about the effects of habitual intake of coffee on hypertensive people. But studies have shown that coffee can increase the blood pressure by some points.

You can take and check your blood pressure after about 30minutes to 3hours to know its effect on you.

Researches are still on going to confirm the long term effect of coffee in relation to blood pressure. However, to be on the safe side, it is best to reduce your coffee intake.

2.     Lose weight:

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When you are overweight, the heart works harder and the blood pressure is increased. Losing weight will reduce the blood pressure by a few points.

If you are overweight, you have to lose more calories more than you take in. Eat high fiber foods like beans, fruits, vegetables, whole grains (brown rice, corn, oats, whole wheat, millet, wild rice).

Eat less portion of food and exercise more.

Note ― you should not lose weight rapidly (crash dieting). Shedding some pounds gradually and progressively will help.

3.     Exercise: 

Physical activity helps the heart and blood vessels to become strong. When the heart is strong, it doesn’t need much effort to pump blood.

Just a little effort pumps much blood. This reduces the pressure on the walls of the blood vessels (that is, blood pressure is reduced).

Exercise should be done frequently and overall results will be seen within one to three months. You should exercise at least 150 minutes every week (30 minutes most days of the week).

Aerobic exercises like jogging, cycling, brisk walking, dancing, swimming and gardening are very important.

Strength training exercises are also good. However, consult your doctor first before incorporating any strength training exercise.

4.     Limit alcohol intake and quit smoking: A hypertensive patient should reduce alcohol intake. This is because alcohol increases the blood pressure.

Secondly, quit smoking. Smoking makes the blood vessels narrow, thereby increasing the blood pressure. Smoking also reduces the amount of oxygen in the blood. Hence making the heart to work harder in order to meet up.

5.     Adequate night rest: Studies have linked inadequate rest and stress to high blood pressure.

When the body is under stress, the blood pressure is raised. And adequate rest plays a major role in reducing the negative effects of stress on the body.

You should target at least 7hours of night rest daily.

More Tips

Reduce intake of sugar-sweetened beverages and sweets ― some studies have linked sugar sweetened drinks to increase in blood pressure

Reduce intake of energy drinks.

Monitor your blood pressure regularly (at least twice a month) to check your progress.

Talk to your doctor about getting your own blood pressure monitor so that you can easily monitor your progress.

Finally, if you successfully implement these life style changes (diet, exercise, weight loss, less alcohol, quit smoking and adequate rest), you may not be needing medications any more.

Have you tried any of these remedies? I would love to get your thoughts and experiences.