When you find that your blood pressure is 140/90 mmHg or higher than this reading, you have to know that you may be at risk because this blood pressure reading means that you suffer from hypertension or what is called high blood pressure. Suffering from high blood pressure, which is a chronic medical condition, means that the blood pressure is elevated in the arteries of your body. Ignoring such a medical condition may lead to other problems which are more serious and can even result in death. There are several medicines that can protect you from other serious problems that are caused by high blood pressure such as stroke and heart attack, but what about solving this problem without medicines? In fact, medicines are not always the only solution for curing different diseases and solving different health problems as there are other ways that are associated with our lifestyle and can help us to improve our health. Here are easy tips that can help you to improve your health and lower your blood pressure.
♦ Losing weight
Gaining weight usually leads to several problems that affect the health of our body in general and our heart in particular. So, it is essential for you to lose weight since it can help you to lower blood pressure and it also allows you to make the blood pressure medicines that you take more effective. You have to get the needed advice from your doctor to lose weight safely without affecting your health or causing problems. Measuring waistline is also important and the healthy measurement is under 35 inches for women and under 40 inches for men.
♦ Doing exercises
Exercising is the only solution for you to burn fat and lower your blood pressure. It will make you healthier and will protect you from other serious problems that are caused by high blood pressure. You do not have to do difficult exercises to burn fat as there are easy exercises that you can do such as chores and even walking that help you to burn fat without getting tired.
♦ Eating healthy food
The food that you eat is one of the main factors that are responsible for changing blood pressure in your body. In order to decrease your blood pressure, you have to eat healthy food which is low in saturated fat and cholesterol. Instead of eating unhealthy food, opt for fruits, vegetable and dairy products which are low in fat or do not contain fat at all.
♦ Eating small portions
Instead of eating one or two meals in large portions, you can eat several meals throughout the day and reduce the size of portions that you have. This will help you to lower blood pressure and will also allow you to avoid gaining more weight.
♦ No for salt
Salt is the enemy of those who suffer from high blood pressure and this is why it is essential for you to reduce your sodium intake to be lower than 2,300 mg a day. The older you are, the less amount of salt you have to consume. Those who are older than 51 years old should consume less than 1,500 mg of sodium per day.
♦ Too much alcohol
Drinking too much alcohol is dangerous for those who are healthy, so you can imagine what will happen to you if you drink too much alcohol. Drinking alcohol plays an important role in raising blood pressure and this is why you have to reduce the amount of alcohol that you consume to be less than 21 units of alcohol for men per week and 14 units of alcohol for women a week.
♦ Relax
There is no need to increase your stress because the more stress you suffer from, the higher your blood pressure will be. So, try to relax and avoid stress as much as possible to protect your life and reduce the risk of experiencing other problems that result from high blood pressure.
♦ Other tips
Eat dark chocolate for getting elastic blood vessels, drink about 3 cups of hibiscus tea, reduce the hours of work at office to be less than 41 hours per week, stop loud snoring and eat more foods which are rich in soy or milk protein.