High blood pressure, also referred to as hypertension, is a condition where the pressure of blood pushing on the arterial walls is too high. The blood force causes some damage to the artery’s walls, and this condition can lead to other serious health problems.
Hypertension is an increasingly common condition – in recent years, the numbers have increased due to certain factors that can be controlled, such as a sedentary lifestyle and poor diet. There is medication for treating hypertension, but physicians always prefer other tactics at first to combat the condition. This is the conventional treatment method these days, and this guide will show you how to control high blood pressure without using prescription drugs.
Increasing physical activity
Exercise is a remedy for many of our bodies’ ailments. The amount of exercise you do determines how fit you become over time, and all your organs benefit from regular exercise.
Exercise helps your heart get stronger, and your blood flow is pumped with less effort if you have a strong heart. As a result, the force on the arterial walls reduces, and this directly affects your blood pressure. You may need more time to get used to your workouts, but your body will respond positively over time.
Watching your diet
Whatever you put into your body has a direct effect on your blood pressure. Eating food rich in salt, sugar, and saturated fats increases blood pressure and puts your health in danger. Try keeping a food diary that will help you monitor what you eat and help you cut out salty foods. Having bad eating habits may cause obesity which doesn’t help your cause at all.
One way to improve your diet is by eating foods rich in potassium. The more potassium you eat, the more sodium you lose through urine. Potassium helps ease the pressure on your blood vessels, and foods high in potassium are accessible and mostly ready to eat. Try having fruits such as bananas and avocados in your diet and see a great improvement in your potassium levels.
Avoid alcohol and quit smoking
Drinking too much alcohol raises your blood pressure, and if you are already suffering from high blood pressure, you may face a higher risk of stroke or heart disease. In addition, alcohol isn’t generally good for your body, and most of the key organs such as the heart, liver, and kidney are affected by excessive consumption.
Reducing or eliminating alcohol from your system is a no-brainer. Your blood pressure will be at the required level, and the rest of your organs will have a breather.
Smoking cigarettes causes an immediate spike in your blood pressure; the sudden rush you feel after the first few puffs is an increase in your blood pressure. The nicotine in your cigarette raises your blood pressure and your heart rate. The arterial walls will become narrow and your blood vessels much harder.
All these occurrences may set you up for blood clots, which will cause strokes or heart attacks after an accumulation of the blood clots in your blood vessels. In addition, your heart will stress more because the facilities in place have been diminished by the excessive use of alcohol and cigarettes. Quitting these substances will reduce your blood pressure, and your heart health will benefit from the healthy circulation of oxygenated blood in your body.
Final thoughts
Bad habits die hard, and an accumulation of these habits can cause high blood pressure. While it isn’t harmful to drink a couple of pints or eat a greasy burger once in a while, doing this too often can have serious health consequences. As a result, doctors worldwide have encouraged a healthy lifestyle approach and have taken a step back from using medication to curb hypertension. The new trend is guided by one principle: self-discipline, once you grasp that you are well on your way to a healthy lifestyle.
