Hypertension (high blood pressure) can be controlled by watching
your diet
How To
Lower Blood Pressure Without Medication
by Groshan
Fabiola
High blood
pressure affects more than 50 million Americans and hundreds of
millions worldwide. The number of high blood pressure cases keeps
increasing because more and more people are living stressful lives
and eating junk-food that is rich in fats. Those who drink alcohol
and smoke for a long time are also at a great risk of having high
blood pressure.
High blood
pressure itself is not an illness that damages the body, but if you
suffer from high blood pressure for a long time then you are at a
great risk to have a stroke or a heart-attack, or to develop a heart
disease. Most of the people who have heart disease started with a
high blood pressure that they did not treat.
High blood
pressure doesn't have any visible symptoms, so many people have it
and they aren't aware about it. It is usually discovered during
routine medical controls, but a single measurement is not enough to
discover it, because anyone can have high blood pressure after a
stressful event or after practicing sports. If the doctor measures
the blood pressure and its values are high every time then you have
high blood pressure.
If you want to
lower your blood pressure then you have two choices: medication and
natural treatment. Many prefer to lower their blood pressure without
medication because the drugs must be taken for the entire lifetime
and they may not be effective or may have side-effects.
If you want to
lower your blood pressure without medication you need to do two main
things: to change your lifestyle and your diet.
The lifestyle
must be changed so that it contains as little stress as possible,
and you must start to exercise regularly. You can also try some
relaxation techniques such as yoga. Some experts state that yoga can
lower blood pressure in short time if it's done properly. If you are
overweight you need to lose weight. Every lost pound can lower the
blood pressure a little. Finally, alcohol and tobacco must be
eliminated completely since they seriously increase the blood
pressure.
The diet must
be changed so that it contains as little sodium as possible. Sodium
is an important mineral that the body needs daily, but if the needed
quantity is exceeded it can raise the blood pressure dramatically.
Salt is the main sodium source. A teaspoon of salt contains twice
the normal amount of sodium, and many types of food also contain
sodium, so it's easy to consume much more sodium than the body
needs. The easiest way to cut down sodium is to eat very little salt
or none.
After studying
the effects of several types of food on blood pressure, scientists
have developed an eating plan called DASH - Dietary Approach to Stop
Hypertension. DASH states that you should eat only fruits,
vegetables, grains, fish and low-fat dairy products, and very few
red meats, sweets and other foods that are rich in fats.
It's simple to
lower blood pressure without medication, but always consult a doctor
before deciding on a diet plan or on any natural method of lowering
blood pressure.
About the
author: You can check more about
lower
blood pressure and especially about
exercise to lower blood pressure by visiting
http://www.lowerbloodpressure.info
|
