High blood pressure (HBP or hypertension) is when your blood pressure, the force of the blood flowing through your blood vessels, is consistently too high.
If you have high blood pressure, you are not alone
About 80 million Americans — one out of every three adults over age 20 — have high blood pressure. (Nearly 20 percent don’t even know they have it.)
The best way to know if you have high blood pressure it is to have your blood pressure checked.
The ranges of blood pressure include:
Normal: 120/80
Prehypertension: 120-139 / 80-89
Stage 1 high blood pressure: 140-159 / 90-99
Stage 2 high blood pressure: 160 and above / 100 and more
Symptoms of a high blood pressure:
Headache
Dizziness
Tinnitus
Instability when walking
Pain or similar sensation in the chest
Shortness of breath
The feeling of rapid or irregular heartbeat
High blood pressure increases the risk of dangerous conditions as the following:
Chronic heart failure
Problems with eyes
Memory problems
Stroke
Aneurism
metabolic syndrome
Foods that are able to increase the high blood pressure and thus damage the general health condition:
Sugar
Foods with a lot of sodium
Alcohol
Caffeine
Trans-fats and omega-6 fats
Food that treats the high blood pressure:
Foods rich in fiber: the foundation of every healthy diet is food rich in fiber, such as beans, seeds, vegetables and fruits, especially if you want to lower the blood pressure.
White tea: drinking white tea several times a day, which can thin the blood and improves the arteries, can actually lower the blood pressure and protect the body from stroke. It’s effective only if you drink it several times a day, every day.
Omega-3 rich foods: in order to reduce inflammation, consume foods rich in omega-3 such as wild salmon, flax seeds and chia seeds.
Foods rich in potassium: Potassium rich diet is very important part for controlling blood pressure, as it reduces the negative effects of sodium in the body. Potassium helps to lower the blood pressure. Potassium rich foods are bananas, avocados, coconut water melons.
Dark chocolate: Organic dark chocolate is a healthy chocolate and also those containing at least 200 milligrams of cocoa phenols, can reduce blood pressure.
Mediterranean diet: This diet is very high in sea foods, vegetables, fruits and healthy omega-3 fatty oils. This diet will help lower your blood pressure on a natural way.
Apple cider vinegar: is rich in potassium which helps keep your body alkaline levels, thus lowers blood pressure
How to lower the high blood pressure on a natural way?
First of all, you should maintain healthy body weight, and then you should try these 11 habits that might help you get rid of this health issue.
1. Physical activity: Exercising helps the heart to better use oxygen, so it won’t need to pump the blood so hard. Try with any cardio exercise, at least every second day for 30 minutes, and it can be a brisk walk, running, etc…
2. Breathe deeply: Breathing slow and yoga reduces the levels of the stress hormones, which raises the level of renin, an enzyme that increases the renal blood pressure. Try meditative exercise at least 5 minutes in the evening and the morning, breathe deeply, so that you can stomach spread as much, then exhale and release the tension.
3. Consume potassium: Consuming potassium through fruits and vegetables is very important in the natural process of lowering the blood pressure – says Dr. Linda Van Horn. It is recommended to intake between 2,000 and 4,000 milligrams of potassium a day, and it can be found in natural foods that are rich in this mineral, like the sweet potatoes, tomatoes, potatoes, orange juice, bananas, peas, beans, melons, prunes and raisins.
4. Be careful with ingesting salt: Lots of people suffer from high blood pressure because they are hypersensitive to salt or sodium. However, since there is no test to discover whether this is the case, it would certainly be wise to use this inevitable spice. Make sure to do not intake more than 1,500 mg of salt a day (half a teaspoon contains about 1,200 mg). Pay attention to the amount of the salt in processed foods and avoid it, because through it you intake the most sodium in the body.
5. Eat dark chocolate: Dark chocolate contains different types of flavones, which make the blood vessels more elastic. The study confirmed that in 18 % of patients who every day consumed dark chocolate, noted the improvement of the condition of the blood vessels. Consume 10-15 grams dark chocolate per day.
6. Drink decaffeinated coffee: Scientists have long debated about the effects of the caffeine on the blood pressure. Several studies have shown that there is no effect, but one has come to the conclusion that consuming 500 mg of caffeine per day increases hypertension. This happens because caffeine constricts the blood vessels and enhances the effects of stress – says the study author, Dr. Jim Lane.
7. Drink more tea: Study participants who drank 3 cups of hibiscus tea per day lowered the systolic (upper) blood pressure by 7, up to 6 weeks, while those who received placebo had a 1 % lower pressure.
8. Work less: If you work more than 41 hours per week, you have a 15 % higher risk of developing hypertension, if we can believe the large study of the University of California Irvine. It might be hard to do less in hard times when it comes to the economy, or at least try to take one hour to exercise and eat healthy foods as often as possible.
9. Relax with music: The study found that listening to music for 30 minutes per day with slow breathing is able to reduce the upper pressure by as much as 3.2 weeks in one week and for a month for 4.4!
10. Relieves snoring: It’s time to finally listen to your partner and stop snoring as loud snoring is one of the main symptoms of obstructive sleep apnea. The University of Alabama came to the information that persons who suffer from sleeping apnea have higher levels of aldosterone, a hormone that increases blood pressure.
In case you suffer from this disorder, you have a great chance of dangerous breathing problems during sleep! With loud snoring, the excessive fatigue and morning headaches are also signs which are indicating sleep apnea. Please consult your doctor, because treatment of apnea can significantly improve the condition of the blood pressure.
11. Consume soy: The American Society of Cardiology published a proof that the replacement of refined carbohydrates in milk proteins or soy, such as those from low-fat dairy products could lower the upper pressure unless you suffer from hypertension or are in a state of prehypertension.