Before dealing with natural ways to lower blood pressure, it would be beneficial to outline what exactly high blood pressure is, and what are its potential health consequences.
High blood pressure (referred to clinically as hypertension) is diagnosed when the pressure in your blood vessels is measured clinically – on two separate days – to be in excess of 140/90 mmHg. (The first number (systolic) represents the blood pressure as the heart beats / the second number (diastolic) represents the blood pressure when the heart rests between beats.)
Make no mistake, the potential long-term consequences of untreated hypertension may be disastrous and/or life-threatening and include the following:
• Cardiovascular consequences including angina, heart attack, congestive heart failure, atherosclerosis and aortic dissection
• Stroke
• Renal damage
• Loss of vision
• Erectile dysfunction
• Memory loss
Those suffering high blood pressure may not feel any symptoms and be totally unaware they have a problem – the condition for this reason is known as the “silent killer”.
The only way to determine if you have high blood pressure is to get your blood pressure professionally checked.
Globally the condition is particularly prevalent – according to the World Health Organization (WHO):
“An estimated 1.28 billion adults aged 30–79 years worldwide have hypertension”
What risk factors determine the natural ways to lower your blood pressure?
The risk factors for developing high blood pressure will determine the natural ways to lower blood pressure – these are predominantly lifestyle issues and include the following:
• Being overweight
• Consuming excess salt
• Consuming a diet high in saturated fat and trans fats
• Consuming inadequate amounts of fruit and vegetables.
• A sedentary lifestyle with inadequate or no exercise.
• Consumption of alcohol in excess
• Consumption of caffeine in excess
• Smoking
• Excessive stress
Given the all too obvious general causes of this potentially life-threatening condition it would seem counter-intuitive to focus solely on the symptoms of the disorder when considering preventive or therapeutic solutions.
This, not too surprisingly, is exactly what the pharmaceutical industry considers to be the most productive way forward.
Or should that be the most profitable way forward?
Let us consider just how vast the global hypertension medicine market actually is:
How big is the hypertension drug market?
A recent report (Aug 2023) estimated that the global anti-hypertensive medicines market size was valued at $20.5 billion in 2021 and will increase to $39.5 billion by 2030 at a CAGR of 2.95%.
There is no difficulty in comprehending why Big Pharma is fervently committed to finding its own characteristic solutions to treating high blood pressure!
As would be expected, the pharmaceutical industry is hell bent on providing metabolically altering solutions to a problem that is underpinned by dubious lifestyle choices – once again symptomatic treatment without tackling root causes.
We will now look at addressing these lifestyle choices.
8 Natural ways to lower your blood pressure
High blood pressure is not a random act of God – it is predominantly a direct result of poor lifestyle choices. We will show you a number of natural ways to lower blood pressure – whether you are prepared to make this kind of concerted effort is entirely your own choice.
Maintaining good hydration
Research has suggested that chronic dehydration can be a contributory factor in the onset of high blood pressure as this state may impair blood vessel function.
The advice here, and for many other health benefits, is to maintain good hydration. (See our article “Good hydration – why is it so important for your natural health?”)
Reducing stress
In a fast-paced world full of increasing demands, relaxation can become problematic. Make no mistake stress is a silent killer and may underlie many debilitating chronic conditions – high blood pressure being a prime example.
You owe it to yourself to practice good time management and set aside time for relaxing and stress reducing activities. These may include:
• Practicing deep breathing
• Walking – particularly in close proximity to nature
• Reading a book
• Listening to music
• Mindfulness techniques
For further information, do look out for our forthcoming article on stress management.
Quit smoking
Given that smoking a single cigarette will temporarily raise your blood pressure for several minutes, regular smoking will maintain a raised blood pressure for increasingly extended periods of time.
This is particularly dangerous in the presence of blood pressure that has already been raised by other abuses. In this situation smoking can elevate the risk of developing dangerously high blood pressure with the possible consequences of heart attack and stroke.
If you smoke give serious consideration to reducing the habit, or even better, eliminating it totally.
Quitting smoking is a high priority measure to improve your health in general.
Limiting alcohol consumption
Enjoying a glass of red wine with a meal is fine, in fact may actually be considered to be beneficial for cardiovascular health.
The problem starts when alcohol consumption is not in moderation – this may lead to many health issues, one of which being high blood pressure.
A general consensus would seem to be that drinking in moderation is males limiting consumption to two drinks per day and females to one drink per day. As a unit one drink may be considered to be the following:
• 12 ounces of beer
• 4 ounces of wine
• 1½ ounces of 80-proof spirits
Limiting salt consumption
Consumption of excessive amounts of salt (sodium chloride) will lead to an increase in bodily sodium, retention of fluid with consequent elevation of blood pressure.
For this reason, a reduction of sodium intake is crucial for the lowering of raised blood pressure.
It is recommended to limit your sodium intake to 1500 – 2300 mg/day, which quantitatively is slightly in excess of a half teaspoonful of table salt.
Particular care should be taken regarding processed foods – these may contain a surprisingly high level of sodium. Take care to read the ingredients labels on these products – or better still, eliminate processed foods from your diet entirely.
For further details on the dangers of these products, be sure to look out for our forthcoming article on processed foods.
Maintaining a healthy diet
Adopting a healthy – predominantly if not exclusively plant-based – diet can radically improve issues of high blood pressure. This is obviously a general health issue – the point being that a nutritious and natural diet will promote a disease-free life with improved chances of longevity.
The general specifics of this approach, is as follows:
• Consuming a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, whole grains and nuts
• As far as possible eliminating meat from your diet
• Eliminating dairy products
• Limiting consumption of refined sugars
• Eliminating foods with saturated fat content, such as dairy products and processed foods
Maintain a moderate weight
Weight management is crucial in the prevention and treatment of high blood pressure.
In terms of blood pressure your waistline measurement is important – if extra “visceral” fat is present there is an increased chance of cardiovascular issues along with other long-term health problems such as type 2 diabetes.
General advice regarding waistline measurement is that men should not exceed 40 inches and women should not exceed 35 inches.
For ways to achieve this look at the advice given in the above section on diet.
Exercise
There is no question that a sedentary lifestyle with limited or no exercise is a recipe for disaster in terms of general health and longevity. Being consistently active is a crucial aspect of healthy living.
Even low-level physical activity if practiced regularly will help maintain a lower blood pressure while benefiting such things as mood and stress levels. Furthermore, exercise will significantly reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.
This does not necessarily mean going to a gym. Exercise can mean the following:
• Walking/hiking
• Cycling
• Jogging
• Swimming
Cardiac experts also recommend incorporating lean muscle building activities at least twice a week – this can include such exercises as push-ups or lifting weights.
For further information do look out for our forthcoming article on exercise.
All of these natural ways to lower your blood pressure will need a commitment and a level of self-discipline, but trust me, it will all be very much worth it!
Please feel free to leave a comment on this article and please share this with anyone you know who may be interested.
“BE TRULY FREE – BE PHARMA FREE”