Natural Ways to Lower High Blood Pressure

High blood pressure is widespread in this day and age. Modern- day society is tailor-made to cause blood pressures to rise. Stress which is at an all - time high raises blood pressure quicker than any other factor. But stress is supposed to cause a rise in blood pressure, it is part of how the fight or flight mechanism works. Other modern- day factors are the rich western diet, too much salt in the diet, little to no exercise, high- stress living, being overweight, chronic dehydration, not eating enough fruits and vegetables, etc.

But you may be thinking I don’t have to pay attention to my lifestyle, I can just take a blood pressure- lowering pill from my doctor. Sometimes it would be nice if things were this easy, but just taking a pill and ignoring our lifestyle is nothing more than a band-aid approach. Not to mention these drugs are very powerful and come with a slew of side-effects including, erection problems, weight gain, dry chronic cough, kidney damage, some contain cancer- causing N-nitrosoirbesartan, increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, dry eyes, vaginal dryness, increased risk of kidney and I could go on and on. But I think you get the point.

Drug side effects are a big reason why I have dedicated my life to natural healing so that I can teach individuals a better way to become and stay healthy. Natural healing’s only side effect is good health! So read on to discover options to lower your blood pressure naturally.

Cleansing

  If you have read about my methods before, you will know that anytime you are trying to naturally heal the body the diet and herbs must cleansing. You are giving the body a tune-up. There are thousands of harmful chemicals in our environment. These chemicals can and do build-up in the body’s blood and tissues and can eventually lead to disease. A plant-based diet along with herbs that cleanse and strengthen the colon, liver/gallbladder, kidneys, and bloodstream is the foundational protocols for any illness. Everything else is specifics for the condition. For example, a specific for high blood pressure is the herb hawthorn, this herb will be used in conjunction with the foundational protocols. All the protocols discussed now will be specifics.

 Stress relief

  It would be very wise to buy a high- quality home blood pressure monitor. This alone may be all you need to do to cure your high blood pressure. Many people are stressed out at while at a doctors appointment. White coat hypertension is very common. This is simply having elevated blood pressure at the doctor’s office. This is nothing to fret over, it means your body is working like it was designed to do. Of course, well-meaning doctors and nurses can be concerned and may want to prescribe a blood pressure pill that you don’t need.

So where does the home blood pressure monitor come into play? To get a true accurate blood pressure reading. Many people that have elevated blood pressure at the doctor’s office find that their blood pressure is just fine at home. Do you see? You may cure your high blood pressure by taking it when you are at home and relaxed. Stress reduction techniques are highly important, especially when you are in the process of lowering your blood pressure. Deep breathing is a great place to start. There are many places on the internet that teach deep breathing and meditation.

But if it is still too high at home, don’t worry. There are many effective ways to lower your blood pressure naturally.

Weight Loss

   For every 2 pounds, you lose, you can expect a 1 point drop in blood pressure. Losing 20 pounds can lower blood pressure between 5 - 20 points! This is huge and likely will bring your blood pressure within the normal range. A calorie- controlled whole foods plant-based diet along with an exercise routine will help you lose weight if needed. If you don’t need to lose any weight, a plant-based diet and exercise are two powerful tools to lower your blood pressure.

  If you need to lose weight, a good place to start is to eat 10 times your body weight in calories. For example, if you weigh 180 pounds, you simply multiply 180*10, you would start with 1800 calories a day to lose weight. As you become lighter, you will need to recalculate your calories to continue to lose weight.

Eating mostly high nutrient low -calorie foods will make your weight loss effortless. Base your diet around non-starchy vegetables like green beans, kale, collard greens, cucumbers, onions, salad greens, brussel sprouts, tomatoes, etc. Combine these foods with legumes, sweet potatoes, whole grains, and some fruit while staying within your calorie allotment and you will see results in time. Eating this way will improve your overall health drastically!

Water

   Chronic dehydration, even mild, can raise blood pressure. Getting and staying hydrated can significantly lower your blood pressure. Why? The vessels of the body have been designed to cope with the fluctuation of their blood volume and tissue requirements by opening and closing different vessels. When the body is dehydrated “low on fluids”, the main vessels have to constrict to keep enough fluid to fill all the space allocated to blood volume for the body. Now, what happens when you constrict any kind of hose? The pressure increases! So the remedy is to start drinking at least 2 quarts of water every day to rehydrate the body. Over time, the body will start to relax in knowing that it finally has enough fluid to perform all of its daily needs. The arteries will begin to relax and your blood pressure will go down. So what are you waiting for? Start drinking. If you hate water, make an herbal tea using hibiscus. In doing so you get a double whammy. Drinking 3 cups of hibiscus tea a day can lower blood pressure up to 10 points!

Calorie Restriction

  Most of us eat way too much food on a daily, but aside from dreaded weight gain, we don’t usually think of the other health implications. The truth is most of our modern- day diseases are from consuming the wrong foods and too much food in general.

The science of calorie restriction has discovered major health benefits by simply reducing our daily calorie intake. The key is to eat a reduced- calorie diet but with adequate nutrition, meaning you are meeting your daily requirement of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients.

Calorie restriction has been shown to reduce arterial stiffness and heart rate variability. It also reduces inflammation and oxidative stress. Other benefits for the cardiovascular system are improved blood circulation, improved blood sugar regulation, reduction of arterial plaque, lower blood pressure, and protection against an age-related rise in blood pressure, weight loss, and a longer lifespan. [https://journals.physiology.org/doi/full/10.1152/ajpheart.00685.2011].

 So how many daily calories are considered calorie restrictions? Most research studies show that between 1100 - 1950 calories per day are where the magic happens. These are based on activity levels and body weight, but anything above 1950 calories a day seems to prevent all of the health benefits.

And while you may be thinking wow I could never live on that amount of calories, you can and will if it is something you decide to commit to. And your grocery bill will go down. As a health expert, I have experimented with many diets and daily caloric intake. I tried consuming the government’s recommended daily calories for my age, weight, and activity level which was somewhere around 3200 calories a day. Guess what happened? I started getting fat after a month or so on the diet. You have to find what works for you, but the only way to do this is to experiment. One thing is for sure, reducing daily calories can improve your health.

  Flaxseeds

 Flax seeds are one of the richest sources of ALA in the world. ALA[alpha-linolenic acid] is a plant-based source of omega-3 fatty acids. Omega- 3 is an essential fatty acid meaning you have to acquire it through dietary intake because the body cannot manufacture it on its own. So what does flaxseed have to do with high blood pressure? It turns out, a lot.

 Flaxseed intake was found to reduce blood pressure up to 14 points if consumed regularly. The participants in the study consumed 2 tbsp of flax seeds for 6 months.[ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24126178/]. Flaxseeds have to be milled so that the body can digest them. You can buy milled flax seed or mill them yourself with a coffee grinder or nutribullet.

Flax seed can be used in baking, but one of the easiest ways to consume flax are fruit and vegetable smoothies and sprinkling them on a bowl of oatmeal.

Beets

  Beets are a superstar when it comes to lowering blood pressure. I’m not sure how popular a vegetable beets are, but if you need to lower your blood pressure, you need beets. Studies have shown that beets increase nitric oxide, nitric oxide dilates blood vessels improving blood flow which lowers blood pressure.[https://academic.oup.com/jn/article/143/6/818/4571708?login=true].  Beets can significantly lower blood pressure only a few hours after consumption. Cooked beets and beet juice both work, but beet juice seems to work the best. But maybe you don’t like beets or don’t have enough time in your day to prepare them, don’t fret, beetroot capsules seem to work very well for most people that try them. Other vegetables that increase nitric oxide are spinach, swiss chard, arugula, cabbage, kale, and spirulina.

Garlic

  Sure garlic tastes great in many recipes, it repels vampires, it is great for infections, but what does garlic have to do with high blood pressure? As it turns out garlic is great at lowering blood pressure. The minimum dose is at least four cloves per day. But most of us would probably opt for a garlic supplement instead of choking down raw garlic all day, the good news is that the supplements seem to work as good as garlic in their raw form.

  A study found that a kyolic garlic supplement lowered blood pressure by an average of 8.3/5.5, reduced arterial stiffness, lowered cholesterol, and improved gut health. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6966103/]. The blood pressure- lowering effect of garlic in the study performed as well as a first-line pharmaceutical, without the side effects that the drugs inevitably inflict.

Amla

   Amla or Indian Gooseberry is an herb that can work wonders for lowering your blood pressure. Amla also lowers total cholesterol and triglycerides while raising HDL, the good cholesterol.[ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3326920/]. It only takes about 1 tsp of amla a day to reap the herb’s blood pressure- lowering benefits. But always buy high- quality organic or wild-crafted herbs. Low -quality herbs offer little to no health benefits.

Cayenne

   Cayenne is known as the master herb.  Cayenne lowers blood pressure, improves endothelial function, improves blood circulation, feeds the heart, helps prevent the formation of dangerous blood clots, reverses hardening of the arteries, lowers blood sugar, helps prevent heart attacks and strokes, thins the blood, and lowers inflammation throughout the body. [https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4893589/]. All of these medicinal benefits will improve the health of your entire cardiovascular system. Cayenne can be taken as a tincture or capsule. Of course, you can also eat hot peppers every day, but most of us won’t stick with it, so it is easier to use tinctures and capsules. It is better to eat something before you take your cayenne, to help prevent a stomachache. After all, cayenne is a potent herb so it has a kick. Cayenne is a cardiac panacea that everyone should familiarize themselves with.

Hawthorn

   Hawthorn is known as a cardiac tonic and works great combined with cayenne. Hawthorn lowers blood pressure, lowers cholesterol, protects the heart from damage, helps correct heart rhythm problems, strengthens the heart muscle, and heal heart damage. The more hawthorn you use the better it works. It can be used as a tincture, syrup, capsule, and if you are lucky enough to have access to fresh hawthorn berries, eat up! [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212958817301106]

Fasting

  If you try all the remedies above, in time your blood pressure should fall back to normal. But if your blood pressure is very resistant after all of this, then there is water fasting. The body was designed to maintain a good state of health at all times. But when this state is altered, fasting gives the body the rest and regeneration that it needs to heal itself of just about any disease state. Water fasting allows the body to lower your blood pressure to normal. Studies have shown that this healing modality works for 90% of people that try it.

A study that water fasted the participants for 10 - 11 days saw an average reduction of 37/13 mm Hg. The participants with the highest readings, 180/110 mm Hg, experienced the greatest reductions at 60/17 mm Hg!

  This is amazing news for people that have stubborn high blood pressure. But what happened when the participants started eating again? If the participants adopted a healthy plant-based diet, their newfound healthy blood pressure stayed that way!

The only catch with this method is that it is best to do it under supervision to prevent any adverse reactions. [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11416824/]