How to Lower Blood Pressure

Lifestyle plays a huge role in treating your high blood pressure. If you manage to control your blood pressure with a healthy lifestyle, then you can delay, avoid or reduce the use of medication.

Here are some simple changes that will help you in losing that high blood pressure:

Watch your waistline and lose extra pounds

• Blood pressure will start increasing once you start putting on weight. If you just lose 10 pounds, it will help in reducing your blood pressure as well. In general, the more weight you keep losing, the lower your blood pressure will go. If you lose weight, then it will make your blood pressure medicines also more effective. Consult your doctor to decide the target weight for you and the best possible way to achieve the same.
• Except losing the weight, you will have to check your waistline as well. Carrying a lot of weight around your waist will put you at increased risk of high blood pressure. The ideal waist measurement for men is 40 inches. Women with more than 35 inches on their waist will have a risk.

Exercise regularly

• You must always follow some kind of regular physical activity. Go for walks at least for 30-60 minutes everyday to lower your blood pressure and soon you will start noticing the difference. If you are not active, then increasing your exercise level will help in losing the blood pressure in few weeks.
• If you already have pre-hypertension, then exercise will surely help in controlling the full-blown hypertension. If you are suffering from hypertension, then regular physical activity will bring down your blood pressure to safer levels. Consult your doctor for an exercise program. Your doctor will help you in deciding whether you need to follow some kind of exercise restrictions or not.
• A moderate activity for ten minutes, like walking or light strength activity will help. However, avoid being a .weekend warrior., which means trying to squeeze in all your activities on the weekend. Remember that those sudden bursts of activities can be harmful for your body.

• Eating a diet, which is rich in fruits, whole grains, vegetables and the low-fat dairy products will help in losing the blood pressure up to 14 mm hg. This diet is called Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH). As we all know, it is not easy to make changes in eating habits, but you can always try to adopt a healthier diet.
• Maintain a food diary. Write down everything you eat, for a week and you will come to know your exact eating habits. Monitor all the things you eat, when, how much and why. Try boosting the potassium intake. Potassium will help in lessening the effects of sodium in your blood pressure. The best source of potassium is vegetables and fruits instead of the supplements.
• Be a smart shopper. Prepare a shopping list before you head to the supermarket so that you avoid picking junk food. Read the food labels before you buy them, and always stick to a healthy eating plan even when you are dining out. Although, the DASH diet will be for lifetime, it does not mean that you have to cut out all the foods that you love. You can occasionally treat yourself with foods that are not listed on the DASH menu

Reduce the sodium intake

• Even a little reduction of sodium in your diet will help in reducing the blood pressure with two to eight mm Hg. Healthy adults will need somewhere between 1,500 and 2,400 milligrams of sodium per day. However, if you are suffering from high blood pressure, you must always aim for 1,500 mg of sodium per day.
• Track the amount of salt intake in your diet. Maintain a food diary to check how much sodium you are consuming every day. Check the food labels and always choose the one with low sodium alternatives of the beverages and food. Avoid eating processed food like potato chips, bacon and frozen dinners. Always remember that you must never add salt. Try using spices or herbs instead to add flavor in your food.
• Ease into it, if you do not wish to drastically reduce the intake of sodium in your diet, cut back gradually. Your palate will automatically adjust over time.

• Alcohol can be both bad and good for your health. In small amounts, it will help in lowering the blood pressure by two to four mm Hg. However, you will lower the protective effect once you drink too much alcohol. You must never have more than two drinks per day. If you do not drink alcohol, then you must never start drinking just for lowering the blood pressure, because that will harm you more.
• If your intake of alcohol is more that the moderate amount, then it will raise the blood pressure level. It will reduce the effect of high blood pressure medicines.

• The role caffeine plays in losing blood pressure is debatable. Drinking caffeine will temporarily cause a spike in the blood pressure, but it is not clear whether the effect of it is long-lasting or temporary.

• Anxiety or stress will increase your blood pressure. Take some time out and think what causes you to feel stressed, like work, family, illness or finances. Once you know the reason of the stress, think of ways to eliminate stress.