As we age our blood pressure alters from its normal 120/80 Hg to either higher or lower and this can be detrimental to our health. High blood pressure can lead to heart disease such as heart attacks and strokes. Luckily there are many ways to control our blood pressure by changing our lifestyle for healthier, better habits.
Here are ways to treat blood pressure naturally:
Watch Your Waistline
People with bigger waistlines are at a higher risk of developing high blood pressure. With each weight gain, you will be experiencing disruption on your breathing. All in all, you are more likely to experience increase in blood pressure. There has even been a study suggesting that losing even a small amount of weight if your overweight or obese can help reduce your blood pressure.
Exercising regularly is one of the things that you can do to minimize blood pressure. By exercising, the heart will pump blood more efficiently, effectively reducing the strain on arteries. Your blood pressure will therefore get reduced after 30 minutes of moderate walking.
Take Care of Your Diet
Diet is another aspect in your life that you can take care of. In fact, it plays a huge role in determining your blood pressure. Doctors would recommend eating foods rich in potassium in order to minimize the effects of sodium in the diet. Some of the fruits such as banana, avocado, oranges, apricots and the such are ideally eaten to keep blood pressure under control. Avoid processed food that contains tons of sodium, which is bad for you!
As much as sodium is only suspected of being linked to blood pressure, the effects are already known. Studies have found that salt causes imbalance in the body system, straining the body to create higher blood pressure. For that reason, many patients are advised to reduce their salt intake when trying to reduce blood pressure.
Stress may not seem like a viable reason for high blood pressure, but it affects it to a high extent. Stress increases the surge of hormones responsible in making your heart beat faster, making your blood vessels to narrow. Reduce your bouts of stress can help your blood pressure in the long run. Some of the things that you can do include breathing, exercising and practicing yoga.
Although smoking does not directly increase your chances of high blood pressure, but it highly affects your chances. While smoking, your blood vessels will narrow which will put you at risk of developing high blood pressure. If you have both high blood pressure and smoke at the same time, then chances of heart disease such as stroke or heart attack will dramatically increase.
The effect of alcohol on blood pressure has been quite infamous. Alcohol has been known to create a temporary increase in blood pressure, which would affect it long term if drunk for a long time. Alcohol can also affect the state of the body, in which the additional calories can cause weight gain and interfere with some of the blood pressure medications available.
High blood pressure has also been linked to people who have been getting less sleep. It does not happen directly, but it happens because of different reasons. The first is the regulation of stress hormones, in which people who sleep are more likely to produce stress hormones which would therefore affect blood pressure. Second would be sleep apnea, in which people repeatedly stop and start breathing in the night. This can cause disruption in your sleep therefore affecting blood pressure.
Having blood pressure means that people are to keep drinking medicine for the rest of their lives. Not only that, but there are many ways to maintain blood pressure naturally. Just from controlling your sleep, diet and mental health you will be able to have better control of your blood pressure.
Have you tried any of these tips? Share your answer in the comments section below!
