7 Natural Remedies That lower blood pressure Naturally
Blood pressure is a vital part of the circulatory system. It affects the health and performance of the brain, vital organs, and overall body function e.g heart, kidney, metabolism, hormones, eyesight, etc.
Blood pressure is the pressure of the flow of blood in the arteries as it is pumped all around the body. It fluctuates throughout the day depending on the activity, mood, stress levels, etc.
When the pressure of the blood in the veins is persistently higher than usual over a period of time, it is called high blood pressure or medically, hypertension. Persistent high blood pressure almost always leads to diabetes and high cholesterol, stroke, heart diseases, etc.
The treatment for hypertension medically is to continuously take drugs when there is a spike in pressure and or to prevent the blood pressure from increasing.
It is common for high blood pressure patients to feel lost or helpless because their medications don’t work long term and often make them dependent on them. In worse situations, the medications deteriorate their health.
This is why it is important that healthy, sustainable, and natural ways of reducing blood pressure (that work) should be the first solution you attempt. The following are natural ways of reducing blood pressure using remedies, foods, and general lifestyle adjustments. Let us begin:
foods to lower Blood pressure
For every meal or snack time, it is important that you include at least 2 of the following foods into your diet:
- Leafy green vegetables e.g. spinach, kale, lettuce, etc. ; 3-6 cups preferrably raw. These are rich in essential vitamins of C, magnesium and pottasium that are known to lower blood pressure
- Berries e.g strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc.
- Low sodium foods e.g non-salted nuts, non-salted crackers, foods cooked with little salt/sodium, etc.
- Fatty fish; 2-3 ounces in a day
- Greek yoghurt; 2-3 cups in a day
- Beans and lentils
- Avocados
- Beetroot – contains highest food source of nitrate that softens and relaxes arteries
- Seeds and nuts e.g. cashews. almonds, pistachios, 1-2 cups in a week. They are packed with nutrients and compounds that lower blood pressure e.g magnesium
- Some fruits e.g pomegranate, banans 2-3 cups/serving in a day
- Healthy oils e.g olive oil, canola oil.
- Tubers – contain pottasium which lowers sodium levels in the body e.g sweet potatoes
- Whole grains i.e wheat, barley, teff, oats, amaranth, etc.
Naturals ways of reducing high blood pressure
The following are the natural ways beyond diet to reduce high blood pressure and clear the arteries and blood vessels:
- Exercise – A 30 minutes exercise or physical activity should be part of your daily routine. It is very important to get your heartbeat up through healthy excercises e.g brisk walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, dancing, etc. This will allow your heart to pump blood more efficiently using less effort/energy.
- Avoid all smoking including second hand smoking because nicotine quickly increases blood pressure and harms blood vessels
- Get a good daily diet that includes all the vitamins and minerals that are known to lower blood pressure such as pottasium, magnesium, calcium.
- Remove all processed foods, trans fat, refines sugars & flour, artificial flavors and additives from your diet.
- Manage your stress well. Anxiety and stress levels are a major trigger and contributor of high blood pressure. You might need to develop relaxing routines for yourself.
- Reduce sodium intake. It is well known to spike blood pressure levels
- Substitute table salt with sea salt. The latter contains beneficial minerals
- Stay well hydrated throughout the day. Dehydration makes blood vessels to constrict
- Eat real food that is high in pottasium e.g broccoli, celery, avocado, onions, cabbage, berrries, etc. and magnesium e.g pumpkin seeds, tomatoes, shrimps, squash, amonds, spinach, peanuts, etc. everyday. If unable to do so, try getting these nutrients in a supplement form.
- Manage the sugary foods you eat. Sugar is known to trigger high blood pressure
- Limit alcohol and caffiene. They are known to constrict blood vessels
- Lose weight if you are overweight because more body weight does constrict blood vessels. However, maintaining a smaller waistline is just as important as losing weight for those with belly fat.
- Monitor your blood pressure at home. This will allow you to know what regimen works best for you
remedies For Immediate Relief
When you measure your blood pressure and it indicates that it is high, here are the things you need to do to bring it down quickly within 24 hours:
Garlic
Garlic is one of the most effective natural remedies that is proven scientifically to reduce blood pressure in 30 minutes and less. This is because garlic improves blood flow and relaxes the blood vessels.
During some of these studies, it was proven that garlic works similarly to hospital medications but it has no known side effects unlike the latter.
How to use:
You can consume it as a supplement in capsules or tablets. Remember to buy the whole garlic and not its extract.
If you are using the raw spice, then swallow 1-2 cloves of chopped garlic in a day
Eat well
For the rest of the day, you need to eat nutritious foods that reduce blood pressure as indicated above. Strictly avoid all foods, habits, and environments that you know tend to increase blood pressure
Especially, eat foods high in potassium and magnesium for fast blood pressure reduction. It really works. Try it and see.
relax
Massage, breathing exercises, taking a walk outside, etc. What it is that you need to do to relax, you should do that as soon as possible. Stress, bad moods, emotional turmoil, etc. are all known to spike blood pressure fast.
Your blood pressure cannot go down unless you relax and de-stress properly as well as avoid things that will cause physical or emotional stress.
Eliminate inflammatory foods
Inflammation in the body is usually caused by our diet, alcohol intake, obesity, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, etc. is related to the rise of blood pressure. The major foods that cause inflammation are fatty and oily foods, sugary foods, trans fat, processed foods, etc.
palm doum
Palm doum is a plant commonly found in Asia and Africa. It is both a food/snack and a herb. Have a tea of palm doum fruit quickly when your blood pressure spikes. It is effective in reducing blood pressure as indicated in scientific studies.
It reduces both systolic and diastolic blood pressure while also reducing the severity of symptoms.
You should take the tea as soon as you realise that your blood pressure is up because works very fast.
hibiscus tea
Hisbiscus tea has studies that show that it can reduce systolic and diastolic blood pressure by 7-10 points. It also helps in reducing the chances of heart disease and stroke
However, if you are taking hydrochlorothiazide (a high blood pressure drug), you should skip this remedy because it is discovered to interact with it.
How to use:
Add a tea bag to a cup of hot water and allow it to steep. Once cooled, take as it is without adding sugar. You can take it up to 3 cups in a day.
In fact, frequent drinking of this tea without sugar will help in managing your high blood pressure long-term.
conclusion
Hypertension or high blood pressure has unfortunately become a common disease. It is preventible even in people that have a family history of it by living a healthy lifestyle to avoid triggering it
The remedies, tips, and foods mentioned in this post were well researched and confirmed to help manage and stabilize blood pressure naturally.
It is very possible to manage and keep yourself healthy and symptom-free while hypertensive with natural remedies and lifestyle improvements. I know of those that were able to do it and I encourage you to try natural ways of managing your hypertension without drugs
If there are other tips or remedies that work for you but were not mentioned, do let us know in the comments section below
I wish you the best
