In order to treat hypertension, it is often necessary to make several serious changes to your lifestyle. Making serious changes, in the way you live, can reduce or even eliminate the need to use prescription medications to control your high blood pressure .
Weight Loss
According to mayoclinic.com,” losing just 10 pounds can lower your blood pressure by several points (1)”. Being overweight puts a lot of extra stress on your body. When you are overweight, your heart has to pump harder than normal to circulate your blood. This puts you at a higher risk for a stroke, or heart attack. Calculating your BMI (body mass index) will help you know if you are overweight. A BMI of 25-29 means that you are overweight. A BMI higher than that means you are obese. A good diet and an exercise plan will make losing weight much easier.
A Healthy Diet
Giving up some of your favorite foods may be the most difficult change to make, but is often necessary. Avoiding foods that are high in saturated fat, cholesterol, and sweets is essential to a healthy diet. The best things to eat are fruit vegetables and grains. These foods are healthy for you and will noticeably lower your blood pressure. Soy milk is a great substitution to you diet for lowering blood pressure.
Reducing your sodium intake can also help to lower your blood pressure. When you have hypertension, the ability for sodium to raise blood pressure is much higher.
Exercise
Having an exercise plan can significantly lower your blood pressure. Ideally, you should be getting 30 minutes to one hour of exercise that increases your heart rate, at least 3 times a week. If this is difficult for you to do, you can start by walking. A good exercise plan will increase your blood flow, help you to lose weight, and may lower your blood pressure by several points.
Avoid Bad Habits
Smoking and drinking alcohol can be serious contributors to high blood pressure. One or two alcoholic drinks may not be bad, but excessive drinking or binge drinking can significantly raise your blood pressure.
Tobacco can also significantly raise your blood pressure. Quitting smoking can lower your blood pressure by several points. Tobacco chemicals have also been known to damage arteries; increasing blood pressure. Avoiding smoking and staying away from second-hand smoke will drop your blood pressure, and put you at lower risk for lung cancer.
Caffeine is another bad habit for many people. According to the Mayo Clinic, people who regularly use caffeine have a noticeably higher level of blood pressure, often as much as 10 points higher. To see if you are sensitive, try taking your blood pressure before and after using caffeine.
Reduce Stress
Reducing or eliminating stress from your life will help you to control your blood pressure. When you become stressed, your blood pressure temporarily goes up. If these levels stay high for extended period of time, it can have a negative effect on your health. Learning to cope with stressful situations will lower your blood pressure, give you a longer life.
