Natural Ways To Lower Blood Pressure

Natural ways to lower blood pressure range from diet and exercise to natural supplements to home biofeedback devices. One of the common health challenges that people with pre-diabetes, diabetes, and weight problems face can be high blood pressure. If you are one of the millions of people who are suffering from high blood pressure you may be shocked at the thought of taking medication for the rest of your life to keep it within normal limits.

At one time the general consensus was to immediately prescribe medication for anyone no matter what their age if they had high blood pressure as it was thought this would prevent a rise the already high rates of stroke and cardiovascular disease in western society. Now many doctors and patients realize that prescribing medication for millions of people who could quite possibly treat their high blood pressure without medication is very much a better and much more sensible option.

Use the wake-up call if you are told that you have high blood pressure to help yourself lower it via more natural means that will benefit not just your blood pressure, but your overall feelings of well being and energy.

The Basics

* Lifestyle changes are a major factor you probably need to look at if you want to reduce your blood pressure via more natural means than taking medication. If you’re living a stressful caffeine filled life with too little sleep and too much fast food then it’s obvious something is going to have to give and usually it’s your health. Slow down, cut the caffeine out and start thinking about yourself for a change. Change first to green tea instead of coffee, then even to decaf green tea to get more antioxidants to protect your cells and natural metabolism boosters to drop the pounds.

* A proper diet filled with nutrition rather than empty carbs is something you really need to consider before it’s too late and you don’t have any option but to take that medication. Cut down on the fast food and start eating more fresh fruit and vegetables. A high potassium low sodium diet is best so think about foods such as tomatoes, bananas, orange juice, honey dew melon etc.

If you want a lower glycemic strategy and don’t like veggies, think about drinking low sodium V8 juice — it has a good amount of potassium and less sodium than regular tomato juice or regular V8. A high sodium diet can cause the body to retain fluid which makes your heart work harder to push blood around your body and salt can promote higher blood pressure in susceptible individuals.

* Stop smoking, yes it’s difficult especially if you’ve been smoking for a number of years, but it’s either give up cigarettes or watch your health decline even further. Your health care provider will be only too happy to give you advice on how to stop and there are plenty of aids and devices such as nicotine patches on the market to help you get through the tough stages. The natural way to go is Use hypnosis to stop smoking, and it can be very beneficial.

* Get more exercise, most of us don’t take nearly enough exercise and it shows in our declining health. Get yourself a dog so it gives you an excuse to go for a walk, join the gym, start swimming, you’ll soon feel the benefits.Dog owners get extra benefits from the unconditional love that a pet can bring — along with blood pressure lowering effects just by enjoying some quiet time petting your dog.

* Get plenty of fresh air, and I’m not particularly talking about exercise here. So many people remain cooped up inside their homes sat at computers or games consoles instead of getting out into the yard or garden and getting some fresh air. And talking about gardens, gardening can be a huge stress buster if you can get interested which all contributes to lowering your blood pressure.

Foods that help lower blood pressure naturally

* Artichokes contain natural diuretics which assist in flushing excess sodium from your body

* Food containing essential unsaturated fatty acids such as Omega 3. This helps boost your immune system and protect your body against certain diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer. As we discussed in recent tips, oily fish like wild Alaskan salmon is a good source of omega 3.

* Nibbling on sunflower seeds is a more healthy option than nibbling on chocolate or donuts as they are rich in minerals such as potassium and magnesium. Carry a bag of raw unsalted seeds or even almonds or other nuts with you to work so that you aren’t tempted by junk food when you want a snack.

Biofeedback for Blood Pressure

Natural strategies like biofeedback and relaxation methods and help lower blood pressure too. Stress can also play a role in raising blood pressure — and stress reduction techniques can lower both the stress and your body’s response to it (which includes higher blood pressure in many people).

Here the options include simple things like progressive relaxation or devices that monitor the autonomic nervous system, that is the part of the nervous system that regulates your bodily function, including the tone of your blood vessels, your heart rate, and blood pressure. The idea is to lower the chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and build up the body’s ability to let go, that is, a relatively greater tone for the parasympathetic nervous system.

So, there are small portable devices such as the Stress Eraser (for heart rate variability) or Resp-ERate (for respiration rate) which help you learn when you are over-activating the sympathetic system or increasing the tone of the parasympathetic system. These devices are easy to use and show you displays that tell you when you are in the right “zone” or not. One of the benefits is lowering your blood pressure.

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