High blood pressure is sometimes called the silent killer because the symptoms of the condition are invisible. According to the American Heart Association, 77 percent of first-time stroke victims and 69 percent of first-time heart attack victims have high blood pressure. There are many ways to lower your blood pressure. However, all the methods take time and dedication.
Modify Your Diet
Eating healthful foods helps control and prevent high blood pressure. Reduce your intake of processed foods, which can be high in sodium, and experiment with fresh and dried herbs to replace the amount of salt you use in cooking. Eat a nutritious diet that emphasizes whole grains, such as oatmeal, brown rice and pasta and minimizes fatty meats and meat products. Get protein instead from fish and nuts, which both have heart-healthy oils, and from beans and legumes. MayoClinic.com recommends walnuts as one of the most healthful nuts, as well as almonds, peanuts and pecans, and advises that a small handful is a good amount.
Exercise Vigorously
The American Heart Association explains that physical activity not only can help control high blood pressure, but it also helps you manage your weight. Unhealthy weight levels increase your risk for serious diseases such as stroke and heart attacks even higher than high blood pressure alone. Walk at a brisk pace for 30 minutes or more at least five days a week to actually lower your blood pressure -- simply strolling at a normal pace will not do the trick. If you garden, you need to dig, hoe, or lift strenuously enough to work up a sweat. Exercise also can help you manage and relieve everyday stress that makes your heart work harder, constricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure.
Other Lifestyle Modifications
Limiting alcohol to one drink a day for women and two drinks for men prevents alcohol from raising your blood pressure, according to MayoClinic.com. The website also explains that smoking hardens arteries and also raises blood pressure, giving you yet another reason to stop smoking. Finally, MayoClinic.com recommends monitoring your blood pressure with an at-home machine. Using an easy-read machine will help you focus on your goal, keep you motivated and alert you if your home remedies aren't working.
Medications
If your blood pressure is very high, your doctor might want to treat the condition with medications, because the risk for stroke or heart attack requires quick measures. Some of the different medications that lower high blood pressure include diuretics, or water pills, to help your kidneys remove sodium and water, thus reducing your blood volume and pressure; beta blockers, to open your blood vessels and let your blood flow more easily; ACE inhibitors, to block the chemicals that narrow blood vessels; and calcium channel blockers to relax the muscles of the blood vessels.
References
- American Heart Association: Why Blood Pressure Matters
- MayoClinic.com: High Blood Pressure (Hypertension): Lifestyle and Home Remedies
- MayoClinic.com: High Blood Pressure (Hypertension): Treatments and Drugs
- American Heart Association: Stress and Blood Pressure
- MayoClinic.com: Nuts and Your Heart: Eating Nuts for Heart Health
