Diet for people with high blood pressure

Most people diagnosed with high blood pressure are prescribed prescription medications by their doctor. Hypertension medications designed to reduce blood pressure include:

• ACE (Angiotensin-converting enzyme) inhibitors – it prevents your body from making Angiotensin II that can can cause our blood vessels to narrow, thicken and stiffen.
• Alpha Blockers – They stop the hormone norepinephrine from constricting the muscles surrounding veins and smaller arteries.
• Beta Blockers – they block adrenaline (epinephrine), resulting in the heart slowing and blood vessels to expand.
• Calcium channel blockers – they inhibit calcium ions from penetrating the heart’s cell and muscles surrounding blood vessels, helping them relax.
• Central-acting agents – they affect the brain and blocks signals that speeds up heart rate and/or constrict blood vessels.
• Diuretics – they cause the kidneys to produce sodium and water in the urine deceasing blood volume and pressure.
• Vasodilators – such as Hydralzine is believed interfere with calcium ion release while the Minoxidil molecule contains a nitric oxide element that can instigate blood vessel widening.

There are a number of problems with blood pressure (BP) reducing medications however. They do not cure the cause of high blood pressure but merely lower it while the drugs remain in your system. This means that people usually have to take medications daily for the rest of their lives in order to keep their blood pressure at an acceptable level.

The other problem with hypertension medications (other than the cost) is a range of undesirable side effects such as:a persistent dry cough, headache, pounding heartbeat, nausea, weight gain, reduced libido, depression, insomnia, shortness of breath, sinus congestion… the list could go on.

Because of these problems a lot of people have been looking into how to reduce blood pressure naturally without the use of medications. Thankfully there are indeed ways to reduce high blood pressure naturally through diet and exercise.

A BP reducing diet includes eating less processed foods high in salt, trans-fats and saturated fats, replacing these with more basic natural, basic ingredients. This shift can not just reduce high blood pressure but can also put you on the path to a more healthier and happier existence. Sure, it means more cooking at home and less eating out at restaurants but maybe that’s a good thing.

You may also want to include in your diet more fruit and vegetables. Celery, bananas, apples, tomatoes, onions and garlic have all been shown to be particularity helpful to reduce your high blood pressure and keep it down.

Supplements can also play a part in an anti-hypertensive diet. Consider taking daily does of vitamin C, B12, Calcium, Magnesium, Omega 3, and Hawthorn tincture.

Exchange your table salt for naturally harvested Celtic Sea salt, full of natural essential minerals (but use it in moderation).

Don’t make the mistake of cutting out all salt intake. Most of the salt we consume is in processed foods. If we cut out processed foods from our diet we need to get salt from somewhere. No salt is as unhealthy as too much.

Also consider eating fish more often instead of red meat.

For a treat have a glass of red wine and some dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa) everyday. Both red wine and cocoa has been shown to help keep the heart healthy and reduce high blood pressure. Stress reducing exercise has also been shown to be very beneficial in reducing high blood pressure. Slow breathing exercises have been increasing in popularity. Tests have shown that by taking 15 minutes a day to relax and breath in a slow rhythmic pattern can help lower our BP quite significantly over time.

Once thought too wacky, slow breathing exercises have now gone mainstream. You can buy audio tapes on-line to assist you or a slow breathing audio aid machine from pharmacies. Of course you don’t need to buy anything. Just put on some relaxing music in the background and slow your breathing down to 6 or 7 breaths per minute for quarter of an hour. Do this everyday and you will see results.

The other kind of exercise that will reduce high blood pressure is the old-fashioned cardio-vascular kind – jogging, hill climbing, gym work out – whatever gets your heart beating and your blood pumping. If your not ready to climb Mount Everest, no worries. Even a daily walk around the block has been shown helpful to reducing BP over time.

So there you have it. How to reduce high blood pressure naturally is really quite straightforward. Good diet, physical exercise and stress reduction is all that is really needed. Practiced consistently and even the most stubborn high BP should start to come back down.

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