How to Lower Your Blood Pressure
By Sara Butler
If your blood pressure isn’t on your mind, it really should be. High blood pressure is a serious condition that has some serious ramifications for your overall health and wellness. About 33 percent of people have high blood pressure and many aren’t even aware of it. If you it’s not treated, then you increase your risk of suffering a stroke or developing heart disease. Here are a few things you can do to naturally reduce your blood pressure.
Get Some Exercise
If you want to lower your blood pressure, then the best thing you can do is to get up and get moving. When you exercise regularly you strengthen your heart, lowering the pressure of the blood in your arteries. If you can complete 150 minutes of moderate exercise each week, such as walking, then you can improve your heart health and naturally lower your blood pressure.
Watch the Salt
When you eat too much salt, then you are contributing to increased blood pressure. Processed foods are usually very high in salt, so you can eat double or even triple the daily recommendation without even being aware that you’re doing it. Your best bet is to cut out processed foods and pay attention to how much sodium you’re eating in a day. You can easily replace salt in your food with the use of various spices and herbs.
Watch Your Alcohol Intake
Alcohol has been linked in many studies to high blood pressure. In the United States, moderate alcohol consumption is defined as one drink per day for women and two for men. Just be aware of the damage you may being doing with alcohol and take steps to limit it or even eliminate it for your health.
Get Enough Potassium
Potassium is a mineral that is really important to your health and your blood pressure, too! Potassium assists your body in ridding itself of sodium in order to help take some of the pressure off of your blood vessels. So, how can you get more potassium? You can:
- Limit the amount of processed foods in your diet
- Eat more vegetables such as tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and leafy greens
- Eat more fruit such as bananas, oranges, avocados, and apricots
- Drink milk
- Eat yogurt
- Eat more beans
- Eat more salmon and tuna
Making just a few simple changes in your life can help to decrease blood pressure and keep you healthy!
To learn more about your health and wellness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic.