High blood pressure is one of the leading causes of heart disease, and hypertensive heart disease is the leading cause of death associated with high blood pressure. Unfortunately, high blood pressure is incredibly common, making it all the more dangerous. The American Heart Association estimates that about 103 million people, or one out of every two adult Americans, have high blood pressure, and only 50 percent of those people report having their blood pressure under control. Blood pressure is highly influenced by lifestyle choices, so if you are looking at how to lower your blood pressure, begin by incorporating one or more of these suggestions into your daily routine:
- Quit smoking: Like most health conditions, blood pressure is negatively impacted by smoking. Nicotine is a stimulant that causes your blood pressure and heart rate to immediately increase, so quit smoking to lower your blood pressure.
- Reduce stress: In today’s busy world, it feels like many of us are always stressed – and it’s affecting our blood pressure. Try to reduce unnecessary obligations on your time and watch your blood pressure drop.
- Increase your activity: One of the fastest ways to make a difference in your blood pressure is to increase your level of physical activity. Try aiming to add activity that increases your heart and breathing rate for 30 minutes per day.
- Shed the extra pounds: Losing just five or ten pounds can lead to a noticeable drop in blood pressure for people who are overweight or obese.
- Watch what you eat: It can be overwhelming to try and overhaul your diet if you’re not a healthy eater, but cutting back on carbs and sugar is a great place to start. You’ll likely lose weight, too, which can also help lower your blood pressure.
- Cut back on salt: A high sodium intake can increase blood pressure in people with high blood pressure since these individuals tend to be more salt-sensitive than others. Reducing your salt intake can help lower your blood pressure, as can adding in more potassium to your diet since potassium reduces the effects of salt and eases the pressure on your blood vessels. Try adding in low-fat milk, yogurt, fish, bananas, avocados, and sweet potatoes for extra potassium.
- Eat dark chocolate: Studies have shown that eating one to two squares of 60 to 70 percent cacao dark chocolate can lower blood pressure and inflammation, thus reducing the risk of heart disease. Finally, something you actually want to do!
- Get more Zzzzzzs: While everyone could use more sleep, prioritizing your rest is especially important for people with high blood pressure. Sleep-deprived people have a higher risk of high blood pressure, so work on incorporating good sleep hygiene into your routine to make sure you’re getting enough rest.
- Cut back on the booze: Regardless of whether you currently have high blood pressure or not, drinking more than a couple of alcoholic drinks per day is shown to raise blood pressure. Women should drink no more than one drink per day, while men should have no more than two drinks per day.
- Limit your caffeine: If you need coffee to survive the mornings, it may be impacting your blood pressure. Caffeine temporarily increases your blood pressure for about 45 to 60 minutes starting as soon as it hits your bloodstream, and it may have more of an impact on individuals whose blood pressure is already high. If your blood pressure is an issue, try to limit your caffeine intake.
- Don’t be afraid to take meds: Some people live a healthy lifestyle but still have high blood pressure due to genetics and other factors. If you live a healthy lifestyle but still have high blood pressure, or if your blood pressure is very high, you may need to take a medication to lower it. Talk to your doctor about what might work best for you.
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