Lowering High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure or hypertension is an extremely common ailment that can creep up on you undetected. It affects nearly half of all adults and it increases the risk of heart disease, stroke or kidney disease but the good news is that it can often be addressed using natural means instead of, or along with, using prescribed pharmaceuticals.

The aim is to lower the top number (systolic pressure) and reducing this number by just a few points can make a considerable difference. It is estimated that a drop of just 2 points could reduce deaths from stroke by about 6% and coronary artery disease by about 4%.

Here are some tips on lowering your blood pressure naturally:

Change your diet to one that is high in fresh fruit and vegetables and low in fat. Cut down on red meat and try to cut out sweets and sugary beverages. This may all sound very obvious for overall good health but these small changes could make a huge difference taking up to 14 points off your reading.

The immediate effect of changing your diet should assist you with the next goal - lose some weight. If you needed to lose weight and managed to shed 22 pounds that could equate to up to 20 points.

Reducing your sodium intake could help you drop up to 8 points, 30 minutes of exercise daily another 9 points and reducing your alcohol intake perhaps another 4. The last two points should help you gain better sleep which is another important factor in fighting hypertension and will assist you in reducing your stress levels, which is perhaps another obvious culprit.

Taking a calcium supplement has been shown to be beneficial at levels of 1,000 mg a day if you’re under 50 and 1,200 mg if you’re over 50. Ingesting at least 500 mg of Vitamin C daily can assist in lowering blood pressure as much as 9 points when used in conjunction with prescription drugs.

It does sound like I am a broken record sometimes but once again, that all round essential anti-aging cornerstone supplement - Omega 3 will help. In the West we simply do not eat enough fish for optimal health, so take a high quality fish oil supplement or eat seeds that are naturally high in this remarkable fatty acid.

Some people suffer with hypertension because their blood vessels do not dilate when they should. A study found that people who took 200 mg of alpha lipoic acid and 500 mg of acetyl-L-carnitine for eight weeks increased the diameter of their arteries and lowered their blood pressure.

Hypertension, if left unchecked, can lead to heart disease, which is one of the biggest killers in the US. Perhaps making these few changes could help you live longer.