Natural ways to help keep your blood pressure normal
While keeping your blood pressure at a normal level can be difficult as you age or due to certain ailments, there are some effective diet and lifestyle strategies that can help to keep it normal. If you want to keep your blood pressure in check, consider the following:
Hold the salt
Even if you don’t sprinkle salt over your food a dinnertime, it will likely find its way into your diet through snack foods, takeaways, cereals, cheese, bacon and salami. So it’s not surprising then to hear that the average Australian eats three to five times more salt than the body actually needs. Due to our ancestors keeping low-salt diets our bodies value sodium and are reluctant to excrete it. Therefore as sodium attracts water and increased water increases blood volume, blood pressure increases as a result. Limit your intake where possible and always read food labels so you know where the salty stuff is sneaking into your diet.
Take a walk
The more moderate exercise you can work into your day, the more normal your blood pressure is likely to be. Regular aerobic exercise – cycling, swimming, jogging, or a gym workout – are also beneficial in keeping your blood pressure healthy.
Just breathe
The stress hormone adrenaline forces blood pressure up, at the same time increasing breathing rate. One way to decrease adrenaline and keep your blood pressure normal is to develop the habit of slow breathing. Take a long, slow inhale followed by a relaxed and slow exhale. Repeat for a couple of minutes.
Dark chocolate-o’clock
Some studies suggest that a small bit of dark chocolate every other day, and of a high quality, may be good for your blood pressure – if you’re a healthy adult.
Go vegetarian sometimes
Next time you’re dining out, opt for a veggie meal instead. According to research published in JAMA Internal Medicine, sticking to vego fare can lower your blood pressure by up to seven points – about the same drop you’d get from losing 5 kilos.
Turn your phone on silent
According to Italian research presented at the 2013 meeting of the American Society of Hypertension, a ringing cell phone can cause your blood pressure to jump as much as seven points. The reasons aren’t fully understood, but experts suspect that the disruption that comes from a call could make some people momentarily anxious.