If you have high blood pressure, the first thing you should do is to calm down and lie flat. Leave aside the task you were engaged in and slowly start taking deep breath. This stress reliving helps to bring down to certain extent. Drink water and come out of your house and walk at least 5 kms briskly. If you take 3 or 4 meals a day, take salt in only one meal. Again measure your blood pressure. You will be amazed to see that your blood pressure comes down drastically by 10mm of hg.
You can control high blood pressure upto 160/90mmHg at home without medication but beyond that you have to take medicine. As blood pressure improves with lifestyle changes medications can be withdrawn gradually. If you don’t want to take medicine incorporate active lifestyle.
World wide approximately 40% of adults aged 25 and above had been diagnosed with hypertension. So friends wake up start leading active life. High blood pressure if not controlled is going to cause
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Heart Failure
- Vision loss
- Kidney failure
- Dementia
Many habits which lead to blood pressure is lack of activity, so many gadgets which keep us in one place for long hours, tendency to take cooked food from hotels instead of cooking ourself and stress. Nowadays children are also suffering from blood pressure. Children prefer to play online games rather than going to playground. So friends time has come to realise our mistake and act accordingly. We might avoid, delay or reduce the need of medication by doing lifestyle changes.
Few lifestyle changes which we should follow are:
- Loose extra pounds and watch your waistline. Blood pressure increases as weight increases. So try to shed pounds.
- Exercise regularly Regular physical activity can lower your blood pressure by 5 to 8mm Hg. It’s important to be consistent if you really want to control your high blood pressure. Its upto you what you choose for your fitness. Yoga, walking, jogging, swimming, dancing anything you can include in your daily routine.
- Eat a healthy diet DASH diet. You should incorporate diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low fat dairy products and skimps on saturated fat and cholesterol can lower your blood pressure by 11mm Hg, Dietary approaches to stop hypertension (DASH) is highly recommended by doctors. Friends it’s not easy to change our eating habits but we should try adopt a healthy diet.
Eat potassium rich food It helps our body to get rid of sodium and eases pressure on our blood vessels. For details, you can read my blog post here.
- Reduce sodium in your diet Even small reduction in the sodium in your diet can improve your heart health and reduce your blood pressure by 5 to 6 mm Hg. We should try to limit sodium to 2.3 mg a day. To decrease sodium in your diet, consider these tips. Read food labels. If possible choose low sodium alternatives of the food. Eat fewer or no processed food. Don’t add extra salt.
- Quit smoking Each cigarette you smoke increases your blood pressure. Quitting smoking can reduce your risk of heart disease and improve overall health.
- Cut back on caffeine
- Reduce stress Stress contribute to raise blood pressure. Try to analyse what causes stress in you. Few tips to de stress yourself:
- Change your expectations Try to understand that there are something you can’t change or control so don’t overthink.
- Focus on issues you can control If you are facing any issues at work place try talking to your boss or any issues with your spouse or kids talk to them to resolve it. Communication gap also creates stress between loved ones. So talk and resolve.
- Avoid stress triggers Avoid people who cause you stress. Try to manage your time properly to avoid stress.
- Practice gratitude Expressing gratitude to others can help reducing your stress.
- Relaxation Spend 1 to 2 hours daily in doing meditation and breathing exercises. You will definitely going to feel good.
Never try self medication. By doing this you are risking your life.
Monitor your blood pressure at home regularly and visit your doctor.
I have managed my blood pressure by following the above mentioned points.
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nice post