Steps Toward Reducing High Blood Pressure

Did you know that reducing high blood pressure is not as difficult as you might think? First lets define what high blood pressure is and then explain what you can do to help your body in its effort at reducing high blood pressure.

Your arteries and veins are like pipes that carry blood from your heart to every part of your body. They carry the nutrients your different body parts needs. High blood pressure happens when blood goes through those arteries at a much higher pressure than normal.

Blood pressure is measured by two numbers. The first number is the systolic blood pressure this is the pressure at its highest when your heart squeezes the blood out. The second is called the diastolic blood pressure and it is the pressure your heart has when it is filling with blood. Normal blood pressure is 120/80 and lower. But when you have high blood pressure it will be at more than 140/90. If you blood pressure is between 120/80 and 140/90 then you have prehypertension.

If you are diagnosed with hypertension then you will probably be diagnosed with medication. Even so, there are some lifestyle changes you can make that will make you feel much better and reduce the quantity of medication you need to take.

The following changes can make a big difference in reducing your high blood pressure:
1. Stop smoking
2. this next one is very important. Get regular exercise
3. Lose at least some weight if you are overweight
4. reduce your salt intake
5. Reduce your caffeine intake
6. Start some sort of stress management class. Take a meditation, a yoga, or some sort of class that will show you how to deal with stress
7. Reduce your alcohol intake if you drink more than moderately.

We all know that smoking is bad for you and here is just one more reason to quit. The nicotine in cigarettes, cigars, tobacco of any kind causes blood vessels to constrict and causes your heart to start beating faster. When you quit smoking you lower your risk of heart attacks, and lower your high blood pressure.

Research into the benefits of exercising has shown that exercising tends to open up blood vessels and allows blood to flow smoothly. This means even moderate exercise helps in reducing high blood pressure.

Sodium does not affect everyone. But in some people it does elevate blood pressure. People who have high blood pressure need to reduce their sodium intake to at least less than 2,400 mg. Much of the salt we consume does not come from table salt. It is already in processed foods, or fast foods, so we need to start reading labels to get rid of the salt we eat.

Although caffeine itself is not known to affect blood pressure one way or another, it does affect our nerves and our stress levels and these in turn affect our blood pressure and cause it to elevate.

Alcohol can cause blood pressure to go up in some people. In others it doesn’t affect them. Alcohol should be limited to one to two drinks a day. This means a glass of wine, a can of beer, or a small amount of liquor. If you notice that your blood pressure goes up when you drink alcohol, then you need to stop altogether.

Following the above tip will help you lower your blood pressure and either get off the medication or take a smaller dose, and feel better.

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