If you have been suffering from more headaches than usual, finding it difficult to keep your eyes open, or finding confusion to be a problem, you may have hypertension, also known as high blood pressure. Most often, however, hypertension is completely symptom-free. Hypertension occurs as a result of your heart pumping blood forcefully through constricted arteries. Sometimes lifestyle changes are enough to keep blood pressure in a healthy range, making medications unnecessary.
Shed Excess Pounds
The Mayo Clinic recommends losing excess pounds to help reduce your blood pressure. Although losing as little as 10 pounds can make a significant difference, the Mayo Clinic notes that the more you lose, the lower your blood pressure.
Change Your Diet
Your eating habits affect more than your weight--they affect your overall health, including your blood pressure. Tweaking these habits may be enough to keep your blood pressure under control.
The Mayo Clinic suggests keeping a record of what you eat in a food journal. Write down what and how much you eat along with when. This information will give you a better perspective into what changes need to be made.
Ideally, your diet should consist of whole-grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products, according to the Mayo Clinic. Protein is important as well. Some good sources include lean cuts of red meat, along with fish and poultry.
Exercise
Both Netdoctor and the Mayo Clinic agree that exercise may play a pivotal role in reducing blood pressure. Those who are currently inactive can lower their blood pressure in a few weeks by exercising 30 to 60 minutes on most days of the week.
Quit Smoking
Quitting smoking is one of the most important steps you can take for lowering your blood pressure--it affects your blood pressure in more ways than one.
First, the nicotine in tobacco increases your blood pressure for an hour or more after you smoke; therefore, continuing to smoke throughout the day means your blood pressure remains high. The chemicals in the tobacco play a role in this as well; they can damage your arteries and cause fluid retention, both of which result in hypertension, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Visit Your Doctor
The only way you will truly know if your change in lifestyle is effective is to visit your doctor on a regular basis. In some cases, people need to combine lifestyle changes with medication for optimal results.
If you plan on monitoring your blood pressure at home between visits, the Mayo Clinic recommends asking your doctor what size blood pressure cuff you need, what arm to place it on and what time of day to take it. Home monitoring works only if it is done properly.
