Emma Miller
Blood pressure depends on our lifestyle. It is enough to change it in a healthy way and the pressure will come to normal: hypertension will recede at or the need for medication will decrease.
How to lower blood pressure – 7 steps
- Keep moving. People who lead an active lifestyle are 2 times less likely to suffer from hypertension. Just 30 minutes of exercise a day can help lower your upper blood pressure by 3 to 5 divisions and your lower blood pressure by 2 to 3 divisions. Walk, run, swim, ride a bicycle. 2.
- get rid of excess weight. Being overweight makes your heart work harder and puts extra pressure on it – this can cause hypertension. Losing weight, on the contrary, makes it easier for your heart and blood vessels to work. Therefore, if you are overweight or obese, start losing weight. Each pound you lose lowers your blood pressure by about 1 division.
- Salt contains a lot of sodium, which retains water in the body and leads to high blood pressure. In other words, less salt means lower blood pressure. The daily norm of salt is 3-5 grams, about 1/2 teaspoon. Individuals with hypertension should cut their intake in half, to no more than 1.5 grams of salt a day (on the tip of a knife). This will help lower your blood pressure by 5 to 6 divisions. And do not forget that we eat a lot of salt not in its pure form, but as part of other products – for example, semi-finished products. According to nutritionists, the rejection of store-bought sausage and frankfurters alone will reduce blood pressure by 10-15 divisions.
- Eat bananas. Salt has an “enemy” – it is potassium. Therefore, you should add foods rich in potassium to your diet. For example, bananas – one banana has about 420 mg of potassium. In addition to bananas, potassium is also rich in baked potatoes with the skin, apricots, and apricots. Foods rich in antioxidants – bioflavonoids can also help lower blood pressure. These are vegetables and fruits of bright colors – beets, bell peppers, carrots, raspberries, dark sorts of grapes, blueberries, and black chokeberries. Revise your diet as a whole: add more fruits, vegetables, and porridges, and remove fats, semi-finished products, and baked goods – this will help reduce the pressure by 10-11 divisions.
- Give up alcohol. Or at least limit it. Remember that even a small portion of alcohol can lead to a spike in blood pressure. Especially insidious is “harmless” beer – it leads to fluid retention in the body and, consequently, to higher blood pressure. In addition, beer is known to cause the “beer belly” to grow, which also affects blood pressure. However, nutritionists say that dry wine with water in a 2:1 ratio is able to normalize blood pressure. But it can be drunk not every day, 50-150 ml, and only with the permission of your doctor.
- Stop Smoking. Smoking initially leads to temporary pressure spikes, but then they gradually develop into a chronic form. Especially when accompanied by alcohol and without physical activity. The thing to remember here is this: each cigarette increases your blood pressure by 25%.
- Drink less coffee. If you suffer from high blood pressure, it is better to give up coffee – caffeine causes short-term spikes in blood pressure, even in healthy people. As a last resort, drink decaf – no more than a cup and in the morning. Although doctors are still debating whether or not caffeine causes blood pressure spikes. In this case, you can check your body’s sensitivity to caffeine: measure your blood pressure before and 30 minutes after a cup of coffee. If it has increased by 5-10 divisions, then the body is sensitive to caffeine and you should be careful with coffee, cocoa, and other beverages containing caffeine.
In addition to all of the above, try to avoid stress, as it provokes high blood pressure.
Control your blood pressure at home by keeping a diary and recording morning and evening readings of your blood pressure monitor, and regularly consult a doctor. This will help you understand which ways and lifestyle changes work.
