How to lower blood pressure? The 5 keys to get it
Suffering from high blood pressure is a very common ailment . It is estimated that 1 in 4 people suffer from it. Surely you know someone who suffers from hypertension or maybe you yourself can know what it is to have the pressure too high.
It is known that a healthy life prevents suffering from this type of cardiovascular disease, but sometimes it is not so simple and even spikes of stress can give us problems by raising our blood pressure. In the present article we will talk about the five keys to get your blood pressure down .
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What is blood pressure?
The increase in blood pressure or hypertension occurs when the blood, while passing through each of the blood vessels of our body, exerts too high a pressure on them. Explaining it in a graphic way, it is as if a hose is reduced by where the water passes. Water has less space to pass and goes faster.
This happens when the blood pressure is equal to or above what is considered normal. In blood pressure readings they are usually given as two numbers. The upper number is called systolic blood pressure. The lower number is called diastolic blood pressure.
In this way, it is normal to give a figure of around 120 mm Hg for systolic blood pressure and 80 mm Hg for diastolic blood pressure .
For our organism a certain change of pressure is healthy when carrying out some activities. The problem comes when the body can not control the pressure peaks and it remains high for a longer time than necessary. In these cases, injuries to our organs can occur. The heart, the kidneys and the brain are some of those that can get worse off.
The 5 key issues to lower blood pressure
It is well known that to control blood pressure people take medication, but we can not leave our health only at the hands of medicines. These have an effect that help us, but they can not do all the work to lower blood pressure.
Then we will talk about the 5 most important issues to consider in order to have controlled blood pressure. Most have a strong natural background, because they are based on promoting good habits. And if you still do not suffer from hypertension do not hesitate to apply them equally: there is no doubt that prevention is better than cure.
1. Food
The most known natural method to lower blood pressure and perhaps the most recommended and followed by those who suffer from the disease is the control by means of food.
Food has a very high impact on blood pressure, so maintaining a healthy diet is the first goal of those who want to treat their hypertension. In general, it is necessary to avoid salt and all kinds of chemical additives such as sodium glutamate, as well as food products that contain added sugars.
Looking for quality protein sources such as lean meat is important, as maintaining a diet that is far from saturated fat is essential. Avoiding fried foods is also important. But it is the trans fats that must be really restricted, because they are characteristics of products processed by the food industry.
It is also advisable to increase the intake of soluble fiber. Foods such as legumes, vegetables, and whole grains are healthy sources of food. Instead, it is important to avoid fast food establishments, where it is common to add sauces and saturated fats.
2. Be attentive to medication
There are medicines that are used for other ailments, which have nothing to do with blood pressure, which have the secondary effect of increasing it. These are the so-called side effects. Among them are some antipsychotics, contraceptive pills, migraine medications, corticosteroids and some drugs to treat cancer.
Therefore, it is highly recommended to stop taking these medications whenever it is a real possibility. For example, using contraceptive pills can be replaced by other contraceptive measures. In other cases, it is more important to continue taking the medication to treat a more serious condition than a possible rise in blood pressure.
It is also important to highlight that of the more than 200 drugs sold to combat hypertension, Many of them also bring remarkable undesirable side effects . If possible, it is better to look for alternatives to taking medications to lower blood pressure. Medications are thus one remedy and one evil at a time.
3. Avoid coffee
It is not known exactly how caffeine acts in relation to peak blood pressure, but in many people it can cause a significant increase in blood pressure . There are people who drink coffee habitually who have more tolerance to the effect that causes caffeine in other people.
It is believed that caffeine is able to block certain substances that help keep blood vessels open. There is also the hypothesis that relates caffeine to increased adrenaline release by the adrenal glands, which increases blood pressure.
Be that as it may, it is better to be aware of the effects it can have on one's body. Taking the pressure before and after drinking coffee is a good measure to understand the effect it can have on the body itself. It is better to ration quantities and avoid drinking coffee before exercising or doing heavy work.
4. Stop smoking
Who wants to know how to lower blood pressure and be a smoker, should know that the negative effect of smoking on blood pressure is incontestable; tobacco causes an increase in blood pressure. When we smoke, nicotine increases the levels of substances called catecholamines, which cause vasoconstriction.
This contraction of the blood vessels causes the blood to travel through the same blood vessels but have suffered a reduction in diameter, increasing blood pressure. In addition, cigarette smoke increases the retention of sodium, while other substances present in cigarettes such as cadmium also promote blood pressure.
Related to the previous section, it is relevant to mention that it has been shown that combining the habit of smoking with that of drinking coffee intensifies the increase in blood pressure.
5. Practice meditation
There will be people somewhat skeptical about the power of meditation to improve health and reverse disease, but science is demonstrating the value of this ancestral practice. New scientific findings are showing that meditation can also lower blood pressure.
The mind plays an important role in physical health and in the reduction of diseases. That the mind exerts a control on the intense intense flow of daily thoughts can be a new medical tool, which can be integrated to the medicated and surgical treatments.
Bibliographic references:
- Cañizares J. (1992). Hypertension: A theme that is always current. Hexagon. 1 (2), 5-12.
- Doll, R., Peto, R., Wheatley, K., Gray, R. and Sutherland, I. (1994). Mortality in relation to smoking: 40 years' observations on male British doctors. BMJ, 309, 901-911.
- Evans, R. (1990). Risk factors of coronary ischemic heart disease. Rev Per Epidem; ,: 25-34.
- Guemez, J., Alba, A., Argote, A., Méndez. R. and Moreno, L. (1992). Relationships between weight, age and blood pressure in the Mexican population. Arch Inst Cardiol Mex, 62, 171-177.
- Sánchez-Palacios P. (1998). Arterial hypertension. VI Report of the Joint National Committee of the National Institutes of Health of the United States of America. Innovartis, 25-50.
