Five Easy Ways to Reduce Hypertension Through Your Diet Alone!

High blood pressure increases the risk of future heart and circulatory problems and may even result in an eventual heart attack. While your physician may prescribe medications as one of the ways to reduce blood pressure, there are a number of dietary changes you can make which can help reduce your blood pressure to normal.

Here are five foods that, eaten regularly, are time-tested ways to reduce hypertension. Most have several other components that provide additional benefits to your general health, as well as other health conditions that may be associated with high blood pressure. Be sure to consult with your physician and discuss the appropriateness of each of these foods to your specific health picture. Augmenting your medication with these dietary ways to reduce high blood pressure may require more frequent testing of your blood pressure. Your doctor may want to adjust your prescription dosage accordingly.

Garlic is perhaps your most valuable in reducing high pressure. Garlic contains allium, the active property in effecting a reduction in HBP. Onions also contain allium, although not in as high a concentration. Both garlic and onions reduce high blood pressure, 'bad' cholesterol and can prevent blood clots. Garlic is also a natural antibiotic, effective against an array of pathogens. There are so many ways to incorporate garlic and onions into your diet, so load up! Many clinical studies have found that just a couple of large cloves each day can cut your risk of heart attack in half!

Cucumbers - good in a salad seasoned with those garlic and onions - help lower your blood pressure, are good for your digestive tract and can also relieve the symptoms of rheumatism. Cucumbers also have a mild diuretic effect, so mention this to your doctor.

Artichokes are yet another of the effective ways to reduce hypertension naturally. If you're overweight, this is a good addition to that salad plate as well. If you are diabetic, artichokes can help regulate blood sugar levels and provide plenty of that fiber you need.

Celery is an old-time remedy for hypertension, so let's add a few stalks to our growing salad dish. Like cucumbers, celery is mildly diuretic, reducing water retention. Celery is good for diabetics in regulating blood sugar, as well as reducing water retention.

Certain mushrooms have long been used in Traditional Chinese Medicine as one of the ways to reduce high blood pressure and cholesterol levels. In particular, shiitake and maitake mushrooms are found to be especially effective in this regard. Shiitake mushrooms are usually available fresh in larger supermarkets. Both are also available in dried form and are easily reconstituted in water. A mix of these mushrooms makes a delicious soup, or salad accent. Other notable benefits of eating these mushrooms include boosting the immune system function, fighting off viral conditions and as a preventative and treatment for cancer.

Check with your doctor about the above food choices. Eat salad daily. You will be amazes how a bowl of salad might be one of the best ways to reduce high blood pressure.

You Can Lower Your High Blood Pressure by Changing Your Thinking

High Blood pressure is mostly caused by dietary and lifestyle factors. These are the first to be reviewed when our BP readings are consistently elevated. First line defence techniques such as improving our diet and becoming more active are beneficial. They are, however, only part of the picture. What is often overlooked is the effect of our thought patterns on our blood pressure.

As a Man Thinketh, So He Becomes:

James Allen's famous aphorism - as a man thinketh so he becomes - says that our dominant thoughts affect our well being, for good or for bad. Our subconscious mind hears our "chatter" and tries to make those thoughts our reality. If we are worried, for example, about out our job security or keeping up the mortgage repayments, then our subconscious mind interprets our anxiety by releasing chemicals into our blood that elevate out blood pressure. This is anxiety or stress related hypertension, which we sometimes try to alleviate through increased smoking unhealthy and drinking. We are, of course, only making our hypertension worse.

A study of psychology and hypertension carried out by the University of Padua, Italy confirmed that:

hostility
anger
anxiety
depression and
defensiveness
have been often associated with the development of hypertension (Semplicini and Realdi, University of Padua Medical School, 2009).

We can apply this knowledge to turn the problem around by:

changing what we think about, and
using relaxation techniques.
Recognizing the problem

Our anxiety is caused, at least in part, by the fear of the unknown. We do not know what is going to happen and we think we have no control over circumstances. If work fears are a cause of our hypertension, we can work to reduce or eliminate them. It might help to make an assessment of the likely impact of losing a job and try to plan for such circumstances.

Changing what we think about

Human nature is for our self-defense mechanism to engage. In the case of anxiety related hypertension, it is not uncommon for us to try to ignore the problem and hope it will go away. This is self-deception and can add further stress burdens, making our condition worse.

As important as dietary factor as in controlling the high blood pressure, it would be wise to recognize the problem and do something about it. Planning is a form of action. Taking positive action to reduce or eliminate the problem can be cathartic. So if anxiety is fuelling our high blood pressure, we can counter it by altering the predominant subject of our thoughts away from worrying to actively dealing with the cause of our concerns.

Relaxing

There are two types of relaxation - active relaxation and passive relaxation. Engaging in an activity or sport that you enjoy which is a break from your normal routine can be relaxing to both body and mind. Passive relaxation can be as simple as finding a peaceful place and quieting your mind for 20 minutes. This will immediately lower your blood pressure.

Defensive behavior can likely worsen anxiety related hypertension. You should also do something about the psychological factors. It starts with acknowledgement and gets easier by taking positive action. There is a dynamic relationship between the nature of our predominant thoughts and our bodies especially our blood pressure.

Blood Pressure and Weight Loss

Weight loss can help lower your blood pressure and help you live healthy. These tips can help you lower your weight and your blood pressure.
1. Avoid carbonated beverages such as soft drinks or soda, because it contains high in sugar, and for your information sugar can add a huge quantity of calories, which may cause retention of weight gain. Now, it's time to switch your drinking habit from having carbonated beverages to sugar-free soda or soft drinks. You can even shift to diet soda, or replace it with purified water or sugar free tea - they are mostly one of the best choice. Although the diet drinks are free of sugar however the sweetness in it could cause you craving for more sugar.

2. Water Therapy. Another way to lose weight is drinking water every day. Recommended dietary regimen is 8 glasses per day or equivalent to 64 'oz a day. Water is the best way to hydrate, flush and cleanse your digestive system. One simple way to drink water daily is by using pitchers and fill it up with water or when you travel you can use a liter of bottled water, in this way you will always hydrate yourself and your body will keep from retaining fluids.

3. Walking is the best exercise. Because it helps burn calories in your body and even simple exercise like stretching, walking or jugging few times a day will improve your metabolism and enhances your health. Especially this is ideal to those people who doesn't go to gym to work out.

4. Eat green leafy vegetables and fruits. Increasing the amount of good food you eat daily will help you lose weight as well. If you're not fun of eating vegetables and fruits just try to add 3 servings a day and if possible, try to avoid fatty foods. Put BRAT in your diet (Banana, Rice,Apple,Tea), this is another way to lose weight.

5. Try not to eat fast food chains or per-packed foods. You have to discipline yourself in cooking your own food and try to avoid those kinds of foods that you can find in grocery stores or on the streets because it contains a lot of fats and chemicals as well.

6. Fasting, even every other day this will help you lose few pounds of weight and boost your metabolism. It also makes you feel rejuvenated and energized.

So, there you go, try and see it for yourself. Drink enough water every day than drinking beverages, eat right vegetables and fruits instead of candies and walk for 15 minutes a day every morning rather than watching television. These simple ways will improve your health if you have any questions about weight loss CLICK HERE Now!

Limit Your Alcohol Consumption to Lower Your High Blood Pressure

Your lifestyle affects your health. The choices people make also affects their health. One such choice that impacts directly upon our condition is the amount of alcohol we consume. It follows that we can lower our high blood pressure by limiting the amount of alcohol we consume; but is it necessary to cut out alcohol altogether?

How alcohol increases your blood pressure:

Drinking alcohol has been shown to interfere with the flow of blood to and from the heart. When alcohol courses through your bloodstream, it pushes blood rich in nutrients away from your heart and elevates your BP readings. Heavy alcohol consumption is often associated with being overweight. Carrying those excess pounds indirectly raises our hypertension.

Social drinking is often accompanied by eating snack foods that are high in fat and sodium. These can also contribute to weight gain and sodium, in particular, causes our BP to spike to alarmingly high levels.

The relationship between alcohol consumption and hypertension:

Studies have shown that it is much more difficult to control high blood pressure if you drink heavily.

The risk of hypertension among men and women drinking 1 to 7 units/week was not significantly different from the risk among non-drinkers, ex-drinkers or those drinking less than 1 unit/week, nor among those drinking up to 14 units/week.

However, the risk rose monotonically with alcohol intake above 7 units per week. Compared to a person who drinks 7 units of alcohol per week, men drinking 50 units of alcohol per week (42 units for women) was found to increase systolic blood pressure by more than 5 mmHg and diastolic pressure by more than 3 mmHg. (Source: The Influence of Alcohol on Blood Pressure by Kiran Nanchahal et al, Report to the Alcohol Education & Research Council)

What does this mean for the management of our condition?

If you are hypertensive and like a drink, the good news is that provided you stay within the weekly guidelines of 21 units/week for men and 14 units/week for women, consuming alcohol should not adversely affect your condition.

The clear message is that you can reduce your systolic pressure by as much as 5 mmHg and diastolic pressure by up to 3 mm Hg by limiting your alcohol consumption.

Other benefits:


•Limiting our alcohol consumption is an aid to losing weight. As alcohol affects the absorption of nutrients from our food, the additional calories are stored as body fat. Reducing our calorie intake from alcohol and taking more nutrients from our food will help us to lose weight. Every kilogram of extra weight we lose will be reflected in lower BP readings.


•Other studies have shown that consuming alcohol in moderation may have certain health benefits, one of which is to help us relax. Our blood pressure falls when we are relaxed.

If you are a heavy drinker, you can lower your high blood pressure by up to 5 mmHg simplyby limiting the amount of alcohol you consume. Reducing the amount of alcohol you take is a smart decision because it will inturn lower your blood pressure and improve your health.

How to Lower Your Blood Pressure without Medication

How to Lower your Blood Pressure without Medication
Blood pressure is a measurement of the force of blood flowing against the walls of the arteries. This pressure is constantly changing during the course of the heart related cycle. The highest pressure in the cycle is called the systolic, while the lowest is the diastolic. Both pressure readings are necessary to enable a health practitioner to evaluate the status of a patient's blood pressure
High blood pressure is a very common problem. It is estimated that about 25% of adults suffer from high blood pressure and 30% of them don't even know it. Hypertension is known as a silent killer, because it usually doesn't give early warning signs.
Hypertension is associated with heart attacks, strokes and kidney problems. It can also affect the blood vessels of the eyes and impair vision or even lead to blindness. Unfortunately, the symptoms appear in advanced stages when it's quite late. When the symptoms do occur, they usually include dizziness, headaches and nosebleeds.
The following tips are very helpful if you want to lower your blood pressure naturally:
• Reduce or eliminate salt from your diet: most people consume more salt than they actually need. In fact, according to the estimates, the average salt intake in the population is more than 10 grams per day. The daily recommended intake is about 5 grams. Reducing your salt intake to less than 3 grams per day, can decrease systolic blood pressure by 4 mm Hg and diastolic by 2 mm Hg in hypertensive patients
• Maintain a normal weight: being overweight is a major risk factor, because excess body fat leads to hypertension. If you lose 20 pounds, it can cause a reduction of 5-20 mm Hg. Indeed, for every pound you lose you can reduce systolic pressure by at least 1 mm Hg. Try and lose weight if you are overweight.
• Eliminate or reduce your caffeine intake: drinking about 1 cup of coffee per day is generally safe. However, studies show that consuming more than 300 mg of caffeine daily (2-3 cups) can have a negative impact.
• Eat a lot of garlic: for this to work, you need rather high dosages of garlic, so it would be a good idea to take a supplement.
• Drink a little red wine: moderate consumption of alcohol (1 drink for women and 2 drinks per day for men) can have beneficial effects.
• One of best approach really is to have the patient start a program of mild exercising which will break sweat, proper dieting and stress control.
• Diet change: you should try to consume more fresh fruits and vegetables. Eat foods low in fat, like low-fat yogurt and milk with 0% fat or 1% fat. Choose lean meat, fish, chicken and turkey without skin. Eat more oranges. There is a myth that oranges lead to hypertension, but exactly the opposite is true. Oranges contain a lot of potassium and clinical studies have shown that potassium is very effective in treating this condition
• To stay healthy, the patient should monitor his own blood pressure on a daily basis, he should reinforce those activities that leads to drops in blood pressure and refrain from practices which aggravate it.
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