High blood pressure has been dubbed the world’s number one silent killer. With no symptoms, it raises the chances of stroke and heart disease. If you have been diagnosed with high blood pressure, you can work to bring the numbers down in various ways.
You could use medication, but sometimes adopting a healthy lifestyle can help you avoid or reduce the use of drugs. Here are some ways to keep your blood pressure down, thus lowering the risk for coronary disease.
1. Lose weight
An increase in body weight is associated with many health problems, including blood pressure. An overweight or obese person can improve their health markers by striving to lose even a small amount of weight. But how can you lose weight?
One popular way is through regular exercise, including aerobic and resistance exercise.
Once examined the blood pressure of sedentary older adults who were put through an aerobic exercise regimen. The result showed that the training lowered their systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 3.9% and 4.5%, respectively.
Besides losing weight, you also want to monitor your waistline because too much waistline weight can increase the risk of high blood pressure. If you can engage even in light exercises, you will likely improve your blood pressure significantly.
2. Adopt a healthy eating
The world is awash with junk and unhealthy fast foods with lots of calories, increasing high blood pressure and heart diseases.
However, if you want to lower your blood pressure, you should replace the unhealthy foods with whole grains, leafy green vegetables, fruits, and low-fat dairy products.
Include foods low in saturated fats and those high in fiber to improve your blood pressure.
Food high in fiber will keep you full for longer, which means you will eat less, thus lowering your weight and blood pressure. One way to maintain regular healthy eating is to keep a food diary to help you check how much you eat.
Additionally, you can include nutrient-dense food rich in potassium in your diet to reduce sodium effects on your blood pressure. You can also ensure that your meals are low in sodium by checking the food labels, avoiding processed foods, and reducing added salt.
Other foods you want to avoid to improve your blood pressure include:
- Sugar
- Refined carbohydrate
- Alcohol
- Caffeine
- Foods high in saturated fat
3. Reduce your stress levels
The world is a sea of stressful water. Every day we are bombarded with stressful work and family demands. The negative news also increases anxiety, which increases cortisol levels, oxidative stress, inflammation, and high blood pressure.
It is essential to find practical ways to reduce your stress levels, such as deep breathing, practicing meditation, listening to calming music, yoga, and tai chi. You can also feel better by basking in the sun to boost your endorphins.
Furthermore, remember to rely on your close friends and family to give the support system that will lighten your moods. Other things that can help you handle stress include:
- Setting achievable goals
- Not trying to control everything
- Cultivating gratitude even in little things
- Spending time with yourself
4. Get enough sleep
Quality sleep plays a vital role in lowering your body’s breathing rate, heart rate, and blood pressure.
Lack of enough sleep means your blood pressure is constantly high. Sleep enables your body to control hormones that regulate metabolism and stress, which means that a lack of sleep can result in hormonal imbalance, the risk of high blood pressure, and heart disease.
Some people also make the mistake of compensating for their previous lack of sleep with too much sleep. Oversleeping will increase your pressure instead of lowering it; therefore, get only the recommended sleep time.
5. Quit Smoking
It is no secret that smoking is bad for your general health; even the cigarette packet is full of graphic warnings about these health dangers.
Compounds found in cigarettes, such as nicotine, narrow the blood vessels and raise the heart rate, thus increasing blood pressure. If you are a smoker with high blood pressure, you should consider quitting to lower blood pressure and the chances of a heart attack.
6. Take supplements to lower blood pressure
You can also lower your blood pressure by taking specific blood pressure-lowering supplements. However, you want to consult with your doctor about which supplement to handle and examine the supplement’s content.
One recommended supplement that lowers your blood pressure quickly is the VitaPost blood pressure support with hawthorn extract. This supplement helps prevent heart disease by controlling cholesterol levels and high blood pressure.
Animals and human studies that HAWTHORN lowers the chances for heart disease by increasing blood flow in the heart’s arteries, lowering blood pressure, and enhancing circulation.
VitaPost blood pressure support is loaded with Niacin and hibiscus plant to support cardiovascular health nutritionally. Niacin also helps to boost brain function, lower cholesterol levels, and ease arthritis. Other benefits of Niacin include:
- Improves skin health
- Lower blood pressure
- Improves your blood fat levels
- Treatment of type 1 diabetes
VitaPost blood pressure support also has extracts from the hibiscus plant, loaded with antioxidants such as vitamin C, beta-carotene, and anthocyanin. This antioxidant helps lower blood pressure, fight inflammation, fight bacteria, promote weight loss, and support liver health.
Other components of this super supplement are olive leaves and garlic powder. Studies that consuming olive leaf extract rich in phenolic can lower blood pressure in individuals with hypertension.
Other studies suggest that supplements rich in garlic can reduce blood pressure in patients with hypertension by reducing arterial stiffness, blood stickiness, and cholesterol levels.
These factors make VitaPost Blood Pressure Support an ideal supplement for individuals who want to lower their blood pressure and improve their lifestyle and heart health.
Final words
High blood pressure can be fatal if corrective measures are not taken. Most of the causes of high blood pressure, such as unhealthy eating and lifestyles, can be changed and the risk averted.
Besides incorporating a healthy diet and exercise, you can also take proven BP-lowering supplements. If you go for the supplement, consult with your doctor and examine the product’s reviews to see if it fits your condition.