High blood pressure or hypertension is a cardiovascular disease that affects millions of people worldwide. According to an estimate, high blood pressure or hypertension would affect 1.56 billion people in the year 2025.
This means every fifth person on the planet would be threatened by its symptoms. It is a "silent killer" in the sense that it does not produce symptoms that are recognised by a layman; however, if ignored it can often lead to fatal consequences.
High blood pressure is a condition in which the patient has a systolic blood pressure of over 140 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure of above 90 mmHg.
The causes of high blood pressure are many and varied. But most common causes are excessive consumption of salt, alcoholism, stressful life, no exercise and above all the mother of all diseases, obesity.
The medication for this ailment is not only expensive but often comes with unwanted and undue side effects.
However, you may be able to combat this disease without burning a hole in your pocket by following one or many of these natural homemade remedies to mitigate this problem.
Also, you may decide to go for lifestyle changes. Lifestyle changes are slow. One may in such cases suffer from psychological inertia. However, lifestyle changes bear fruit in the long run.
1. Garlic:
Garlic is a wonder drug for you if you are suffering from hypertension. Garlic is an anti-diuretic which means that it helps in pushing sodium from the blood into the renal system, i.e, the kidney. This in turn goes a long way in reducing your blood pressure. The odour of garlic does not make it a pleasant food for raw consumption. However, one may reap its benefits by consuming it raw.
2. Tomatoes:
Tomatoes are awesome. They not only provide you with essential vitamins like vitamin E but they also contain lycopene which is an antioxidant that prevents the build up of fatty acids in the arteries, which is the primary cause of hypertension.
One can always have a cup of freshly cut tomatoes or a glass of tomato juice.
3. Beets And Radishes:
Beets and radishes are often not given the respect that they deserve. They can provide a healthy supply of nitrates. These nitrates ease high blood pressure by causing vasodilation (dilation of arteries). One can have radish and beet juice. Moreover, they can form an important part of your salad.
4. Reduce Consumption Of Salt:
Reduced consumption of salt will go a long way in dealing with hypertension. Yes, you will hate to begin this exercise but this will have long term results for sure. Moreover, one must stay away from processed and packed foods. Almost all of these foods have a huge amount of salt.
5. Water:
Keeping yourself hydrated is one of the basics when it comes to lowering blood pressure to a significant extent. Water helps to flush out excessive amount of salt from your body and thus goes a long way in controlling hypertension.
6. Bananas:
Bananas are sweet and the cheapest foods that help to lower the blood pressure naturally. As bananas are loaded with minerals and potassium, these help in the proper functioning of the kidney. So try to eat bananas to lower blood pressure naturally.
Moreover, bananas are cheap and available all the year around. One can have bananas for breakfast and before working out.
7. Dark Chocolate:
Dark chocolate is made from the seeds of the cocoa tree (theobroma cacao) and is loaded with antioxidants (cancer fighting), including polyphenols, flavonoids and catechins. Moreover, it contains a considerable amount of flavanols. Flavanol reduces blood pressure to a significant amount.
8. Stop Alcoholism And Smoking:
Alcohol can spike up your blood pressure levels. Also it is one of the major reasons for heart strokes. Similarly, smoking too spikes up your blood pressure levels. Additionally, it is a major cause of lung cancer. People suffering from hypertension must immediately bid adieu to these two bad habits.
9. Exercise Daily:
Daily exercises, specially cardiovascular exercises are important for the reduction of blood pressure. One must therefore run or jog or cycle for ateast 30 minutes on a regular basis.
10. Deal With Stress:
Dealing with stress is important for the reduction of blood pressure levels. One must find healthy ways of dealing with stress like yoga, etc. One must not fall into traps such as smoking and consuming alcohol. These methods only curb stresses for small intervals of time but are counterproductive in the long run.
11. Obesity:
Obesity and hypertension go hand in hand. Decimation of one leads to annihilation of other. One must therefore go an extra mile to reduce weight. Once weight is lost, blood pressure is bound to take a dip.
12. Dietary Fixes:
Apart from the above-mentioned food products, one must take care that one does not consume too much of saturated fat. Moreover, one must have omega-3 rich foods. One must have sufficient quantities of vegetables and fruits on a daily basis. Carbohydrates must be derived from fibre-rich sources.
These are some of the methods to keep the risk of hypertension in particular and other cardiovascular diseases at bay. However, one must always strive to get the basics right. One must always lead a healthy life with stress on proper nutrition, exercise and sleep. A stress-free life is fundamental to warding off hypertension..
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